City Centre Interview with Simon Oddie

SIMON ODDIE I focus on the regeneration of the city centre. That covers many aspects, from social wellbeing outcomes through to the delivery of big infrastructure projects and economic development outcomes. My role is primarily focused on how we as a council group can bring all of those different strands together to create a thriving city centre.

SIMON ODDIE The first is the City Centre Masterplan. It’s a visionary document for the city centre that sets out a 20-year aspiration. It has a set of 10 outcomes within it and some suggested transformational moves, big things that we can do that will uplift and transform the city centre. Some of them are happening at the moment: the plan envisaged a green link from Albert Park all the way through to Victoria Park and down into Wynyard Quarter, and we’re seeing that come to life through Te Hā Noa work on Victoria Street. Eventually there’ll be this great green link all the way from Albert Park through to Wynyard Quarter and eventually to Te Ara Tukutuku, the new headland park.

SIMON ODDIE The City Centre Masterplan is a long-term, high-level document, so we needed something that took those aspirations and made them tangible and actionable. The Action Plan is the document we’ve created to ensure the different organisations involved in delivering the Masterplan – Auckland Transport, Auckland Council and Eke Panuku – have an integrated approach with key actions prioritised.

SIMON ODDIE We’ve had some pretty big contextual changes in the city centre on the back of the pandemic. In the development of the action plan, we talked to a number of stakeholders around the city centre to understand what had changed – especially the way flexible working is becoming embedded. One thing that became obvious was that to attract people into the office, it’s about the experience that the office environment and the central city itself offers. That gives a strong emphasis to creating attractive, vibrant spaces for people who come into work to enjoy. It’s become much more important than we have probably previously given it credit for.

SIMON ODDIE I think we’ve had a huge amount of investment going into the waterfront area. The development of Te Komititanga and Commercial Bay, the work that’s been done within the Britomart precinct, Te Wānanga, the new public space on the waterfront: they’re key street upgrades that have created a vibrant area within the city centre that people just love to visit.

Now we’ve shifted our efforts to the midtown area: the work we’re doing around Te Waihorotiu station, around Wellesley and Victoria Streets in particular, to create a more people-friendly neighborhood. There will be more walkable routes, wider footpaths, more space for people, and better public transport with City Rail Link and high-frequency buses on Wellesley Street.

You’ll see the transformation that’s happening and that’s been uncovered on Victoria Street with Te Hā Noa. Wellesley Street is going to be a bus-priority corridor to enable higher-frequency buses into the city centre and to connect with Te Waihorotiu station. There is also the over-station development. The Symphony Centre is a key component of that – it’s something that we haven’t really seen in New Zealand before in that it’s making the most of enhancing the density of residences and workplaces around stations. There’s an accompanying redevelopment of the neighbouring Bledisloe House, a nice heritage structure. So you’re getting the makings of a really strong neighbourhood in that area, a really strong precinct, with private-sector developments, public streetscapes, public transport connections, and the arts quarter right on your doorstep.