Marko

Councils really should've done this via covenants in the first place, not regulation.

Retrospectively paying landowners would be a windfall - the listed tree encumbrance is already baked into the property price. But at least do compensation for new trees

Isn't stuff like notable trees exactly what new RMA 'regulatory relief' will help solve? Landowners are providing a public benefit for free, Auckland Council faced backlash so much that they stopped listing new trees since 2015. System would work better with compensation

Would also mean councils are no longer distorted in their choice between trees on public land vs listed trees on private land.

@AbsentHog NZ super double-lock abolishment when?

I really only have contempt for right wing racist dumb guy parties of pensioners Maybe we should make retirees have more economic skin in the game

Building higher-density housing lets you save on land costs, by putting more homes on the same parcel. But for the same reason, people are willing to pay more. Which factor wins? Data from Auckland shows that upzoning reduced the land cost to floor area ratio (THA, blue). 1/

@AndreasHeuserNZ So perhaps this project is over-scoped then ... just a thought ...

@markothoughts The investment is funded in that way, but the costs are larger than users would be willing to pay given alternatives (there’s another ferry)

What was wrong with just getting Kiwirail (and the port companies) to fund the new ferries and wharves via future fare revenue?? (like Bluebridge) None of this is anchored to benefits that people/freight are actually willing to pay... ofc costs are going to balloon

Warkworth to Te Hana - aside from the woeful traffic numbers here, surely we can just use roundabouts initially rather than ginormous spenny full motorway interchanges. Upgrade them later

Nineteenth-century cities grew fast. Berlin’s population grew twenty times, Manchester’s twenty-five times, and New York’s a hundred times. Sydney’s population grew around 240 times and Toronto’s maybe 1,700 times. Between 1833 and 1900, Chicago’s population grew around five thousand times, meaning that on average it doubled every five years. Homes were larger and far more affordable. Vast networks of trams, buses and suburban railways were built. Running water, gas, drains and electricity was retrofitted into old fabric. Despite having been built at breakneck speed, cities in 1914 were pretty good places. How was this achieved? The short answer: vigorous interventionism about streets and drains, state-mandated monopolies for transport and utilities infrastructure, and lightly regulated permissiveness for everything else. worksinprogress.co/issue/urban-ex…

@cogtwitoergosum @ScootFoundation Buildings should be allowed to scale to accomodate more humans

@ScootFoundation In all my years of being too interested in this stuff, I've never heard anyone actually explain *why* stuff like "reducing visual mass", "consistent character" or "human scale" is beneficial, it just feels like a preference repeated as dogma.

from the other place The fix for construction sector liability the government refuses to consider. Most of our district plans include these kinds of design standards, for vibes.

@foxcar_joey @urbanistfromwhk He has clearly received parental coaching in the nature of financial advice

@urbanistfromwhk @markothoughts Must have a father who instilled CMM from a young age

@urbanistfromwhk Happens to the best of us

Useful summary of what's changing in the new Apartment Zone rules under Auckland's incoming urban plan

@JG_moves_NZ Goodness, that project’s design and funding was politically messed with and it still seems cheap now

@markothoughts Crazy!

Hope Bypass costing 1.1-1.4 billion for 1.8km of road on an already protected corridor on the edge of Nelson is ... simply crazy

@MWikkle Sure, but I am pointing out how insane the cost inflation on roading projects has got

@markothoughts That road backs up to the roundabout nearly 2 km back from the Queen and Lower Queen St intersection. At 3.35pm today that stretch will take 8 minutes so an ave speed of 30km/hr on the open road. It need to be decongested.

@FrankMcRae Wow did not see it now has two tunnels

Okay so there is widened bit of existing road for 2km and a grade separated intersection further down the road. So call it 4km of road with two flyer overs for 1bn on an already cleared, flat corridor

Thinking of moving to Melbourne after hitting employment difficulties is the most classic Wellington thing to do rn from Tory