Auckland Transport- SkyPath- Northcote Point Parking Survey

Janette Miller is not a member of Northcote Resident Association. Her interest in SkyPath is safety.

Skypath -Auckland Transport- Northcote Point Parking Plan Survey for Environment Court 

Before the next sitting of the Environment court  the judge  has ordered Auckland Transport to submit a plan for parking on Northcote Point that will be put into effect when SkyPath is built. So Auckland Transport has been forced to send a proposed parking scheme out to all the residents of Northcote Point for its feedback and this is it!

Northcote Point Supposed Parking Scheme 

The purpose of this proposed parking scheme is to assist with the management of the potential increase in parking demand associated with SkyPath - the proposed walking and cycling path across the Harbour Bridge. If constructed, SkyPath will land at the southern end of Princes Street in Northcote Point.

While it is expected that many people using SkyPath will walk or cycle to the facility, some may choose to travel to the area by car.

The unrestricted parking on residential streets around Northcote Point could be attractive for people using SkyPath, particularly on weekends during summer (Note jm:  and on weekdays as park and ride!). This could result in a lack of parking for local residents and other visitors to the area. Ref AT

There is no room for this project on the Point. SkyPath was not made to supply one car park for the 20,000 + that will be using SkyPath a weekends in five years time! I hardly dare write this as it looks preposterous and yet below are the Auckland City Official Research 2014  figures that were used for the Resourse Conscent and were accepted as accurate. Somehow AT and Northcote Point which is already overparked have to find even more parking which is just not there. The Auckland Council official of numbers of visitors expected are mind blowing.

SkYPath 2014 Research Final -20-6.14   pdf 32/45

Auckland Transport says all it was asked for were 40 places and there its responsibility ends. One wonders if AT read the Ak.C.C Research document.  On SkyPath's opening day,  NZTA are going to have to do something once the current PM, the Mayor and Auckland Transport have ridden over to a fanfare of trumpets and the two way 4 meter wide, 1.2 k tunnel is open. I suggest open the Bridge. It has been done before when about 3,000 turned up in 2009.

AT’s plans sent to residents and on the web  for this survey are grossly incomplete, misleading and senseless.  The map supplied to the residents is out of date and does not give the present state of play. Sea Path and the New Cycle Lanes are not shown nor are the 14 parks AT has removed.  No mention is made of paid meters. It looks as if SkyPath is only going to affect the areas shown but SkyPath will impact on every householder on the Point. SkyPath customers have been told they can park all day if the wish in the streets. House owners have no right to the parking in front of their homes and it seems neither do the shops and businesses which will see all their customers disappear because if the customers cannot find a park they will go home never to return.

This week I forgot about school holidays and I went to the Zoo. The Zoo has excellent parking with its own large carpark and huge spare parking nearby and yet this was full. Even the roads around were full and I turned around and came home. This happened to me too at the Rose Festival in Parnell. I came home. I cannot get to either venue by public transport. SkyPath visitors and visitors to the shops and cinema will do the same  on Northcote Point if they do not arrive early and grab a park for the day. They will go home. People learn quickly.

Here is a video that demonstrates clearly the space that 2,000 cyclists all together take up. They take up far more room than pedestrians. Northcote Point with the best will in the world is not big enough to host this project. Auckland Transport or even our local Council Kaipatiki Board seem unaware of this or do not want to look. This is a real problem and should be addressed.

   

Lastly how much is this costing Auckland Ratepayers. All this is being paid for by The Auckland City Council. The Ratepayers should be told how much this is costing and allow us to option out. Maybe this should be my next question. Why don't the Council make sure it is safe first?

Mahler Fourth Symphony - Heavenly Life Janette Miller

Mahler used the childish song 'Heavenly Life' - 'Das himmlische Leben' as the last movement of his fourth symphony. In fact the fourth symphony is built around a single song, "Das himmlische Leben" on texts from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth's Magic Horn). 

I love Mahler! It was not easy to get to know Mahler. When I was young in the 1950's Mahler was not on the musical menu. Hard to believe now in 2016!  LP records were expensive and not in my price range. On the whole I earned 10/6d a performance, my parents earned about £3 per week and an LP could cost £3 each!

Britten, who did a lot to  introduce Mahler to UK told me to listen to Mahler but other than giving me a ticket to one concert did little more to help me. It is hard to appreciate Mahler on one hearing so it was not until a trip to Zimbabwe when I stayed with a musical accountant that my Mahler education began. He could afford records.  I fell immediately in love with second movement of the Second Symphony  and Mahler in general especially his Wunderhorn Songs. They suit my voice and my sense of irony.

A friend sent me a midi of the last movement of the Mahler Fourth and I thought why not! I have never considered myself a concert artist but this  symphonic movement is perfect for me mainly because it is a child's view of heaven and I have a retained my natural voice. I resisted training to become a hooter as it was just not me. I am supposedly well past my normal sell by date but I still can sing! I sing with my whole body as a dancer dances. I have the ability to sing in tune, bang in the middle of a note and that helps. I love singing and why not?

This ironic symphony tells of a view of heaven seen through the eyes of ordinary beings who find themselves in a world which is not quite as expected. Nice but uncomfortable if one is unused to it and it fact for most inmates a bit, dare one say boring, if you don't like eating and singing hymns.

My cast are the delightful animals at Auckland Zoo who performed beautifully if a bit unpredictably. They are in a heaven which is perhaps not appreciated by all. They are all well fed, well looked after but.....!

Again the midi was just a piano version so I had the pleasure of orchestrating it in Garageband, this is such fun. The tempos are a la Leonard Bernstein, who has a delightful version on YouTube. Then I had the joy of learning to sing it. It is set either to high or too low so I have had to compromise. One or two nasty entrances. It seems both Mahler and Britten like the soprano to come in a beat late to the orchestra. Sounds as if you have missed your entrance but that's life. I can see the anxious soprano looking up at Mr Bernstein at that moment.

Then, the animals. Because of copyrights I have to own everything. Never filmed animals before. Takes time, five months to get just eight usable minutes but in the meantime easy colour correction of video has taken vast steps forward and the results are beautiful especially the flamingos who are truly heavenly birds. My personal favourites are the spider monkeys who are sensual and balletic. They live on an island where no human sets foot. In real life they are afraid of water and the ground and never set foot on it. But in heaven you can and they do. They have a freedom of intimacy that is a joy to behold as they embrace each other. No guilt of Adam & Eve for them.

Lastly the bit I like best the video editing where one gets to play God. One could never finish but there comes a moment when one must and publish to the world, a world that on the whole is not interested but I already have had one LIKE  and it wasn't from me! That made my day.