Damian Light: Howick Local Board Chair on Auckland Transport losing its transport policy and planning powers

There's hopes a shakeup at Auckland Transport will bring more democratic decisions.  

The council will now take control of transport policy and planning, as well as road control.  

A new Auckland Regional Transport Committee will be created to develop a 30-year transport plan – agreed to by Cabinet and the council.  

Howick Local board Chair Damian Light told Ryan Bridge it could mean locations for controversial infrastructure like cycleways and pedestrian crossings are more carefully chosen. 

He says it could mean they only end up in areas where people want them. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Big changes are coming for Auckland transport. The council set
to make so sorry to take back control of policy
and planning, and a new Regional Transport Committee will be
established to work on a thirty year plan for the city.
Orcand Council will also become a road controlling authority and
it will share the decision making with the democratically elected
local boards. Hopefully, the idea is that we will be

(00:21):
able to have more say over what happens on our roads.
The bill making the changes still needs to go through
Parliament's going to be ages. It'll be like a two
year transition. Damien Light is the how local board chair.
He's with me this morning, Damien, good.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Morning, good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
Does this mean that we will have fewer cycle ways
and raised pedestrian crossings and faster speeds and all the
things that the government says that people really want in Auckland.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Well, I hope what we'll see is better decisions being made,
a more responsive to what local wants. And I think
there's a lot of tool about having but what pedestrian
conscience on cycle ways? I think people do want them,
but they want them in the right place, and I
think that's the good thing about better democratic oversight and

(01:07):
more powerful boards is you're hopefully more likely to see
pedestrian crossings and type of ways in the places where
people need them or where they actually want them to right.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
Because that's the big thing. I think people think, oh, yeah,
au Can Transport, we're blowing it up, and that means
that we're going to suddenly get everything but that way
we want. If you look at how, for example, where
you're the chair the local board, you are now going
to be devolved specific transport functions over those things parking,
speed limits, you know, all those kinds of things. Is

(01:37):
it possible that we could actually see more of those
things because local boards might be more gung ho than
All Can Transport was.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Yeah, it's a possibility, right. But I think the advantage
of democratic oversight is that it gives the public the
ability to express their their happiness or or displeasure, I
guess with those decisions because we have an election of
meets currently every three years, and so the public will
have a bit of a more say over the people

(02:06):
who are making those decisions. And I think that's been
the great value of All Can Transport. And look, it's
been a bit of an experiment in the near fourteen years.
But I think what I think most people would accept
that it hasn't really worked. It was in ended. You know,
it was meant to be non political. The idea was
letting it off and say, oh, it's in dependent, it's
not going to get political, and you know it's well
be able to get off to get things done. I

(02:27):
don't think it has and I think by ironically, by
trying to remove politicians from it, it's actually made it
more political.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
What happens, well, I suppose it removed the feeling that
we had control over it despite its ionic CEO title.
Do you have the local boards have the capacity to
actually make decisions about transport projects?

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Now, yeah, well we do a little bit. We have
a little bit to say over some projects that happened
in the area and actually compid all contransport. The last
couple of years, probably the last twelve months, they've been
working really hard and listen to local boards better and
as you respond to what our desires and what we
said s important, which is great, so that their organization
is capable of doing it. And I think local boards

(03:10):
are shown that they can do it as well. Hope
we need some more advice and support though, So it's
one of one of those things, right, It's not it
won't happen overnight, but there's a bit of a bit
of a change it's going to need to happen.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yeah, and some is definitely going to be a bit
more on their gender, I'd say, Damien light how local
boards share with us This morning

Speaker 2 (03:27):
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