SkyPath & Auckland Councils Win in Environment Court

Northcote Point lost its appeal against SkyPath in the Environment Court.  Judge Newhook indicated that conscent would be granted and that SkyPath can go ahead without virtually any restrictions to begin a few may be granted later if the effects on the Point are unacceptable.

It was greeted by those in court in a very somber and restrained fashion especially by the victors for perhaps everyone  realised that the Northcote residents have been the subject of much abuse and  downright bullying especially by media, cyclists and council and they now have to live with this decision. It is a bitter outcome for a supposedly heritage area and does not inspire confidence for heritage protection in the future. The judge said that there will be change! whereas the Team SkyPath say the effects will be minimal. Who is right? The judge has allowed SkyPath to be built first and then find out how to manage it after it is open. He is  courageous!

Hooded  down trodden green cyclist attacked by a Northcote Point NIMBY.
The faces were obscured to avoid recognition while these two cyclists harassed theatre goers
The cinema manger is asking them to cease and desist!

The case did not start well for  Northcote Heritage. The Environment Court Judge Newhook began the proceedings by beaming warmly at the expensive Council funded Team Sky lawyer and publicly congratulated Daniel Minhinnock of the prestigious law firm of Russell MacVeagh for being made a partner.  It was an unfortunate beginning for this was a serious case not a celebration party for the lawyer.  It appears this sort of banter is tolerated in courts but perhaps it is time to stop as it gives a bad impression to the public and a loss of confidence in the fairness of the court for those not aware of its quirky ways.

The case hinged on a change of a definition of SkyPath. SkyPath Ltd gained conscent as a tourist attraction not an NZTA approved road/footpath. It was and is still a commercial operation for tourists and was subject to certain laws conditions which would have protected Northcote Point and its heritage. NZTA rules would have been much tougher. If this case had been tried under the old laws as in law it is required to do it was doubtful if SkyPath conscent would have been granted so a few weeks ago Auckland City Council changed the rules under the new Unitary Plan and came up with this special definition of Off Road Cycle and Pedestrian Path that allows SkyPath to be built under any circumstances and until challenged in a further court can do what it likes in a heritage area. This change meant the case was over before it had begun.  It is a pity to see the law treated in this way against citizens even if you do not agree with them. One felt at the end that most were uncomfortable about how this result had been achieved. There was no sense of elation.

This case proves that it is extremely difficult for individuals and societies to fight against authorities and companies who are fully funded by a City Council. Even the grant of $50,000 that is available by the government to do this was denied to the Northcote Point and Westhaven residents who have had to fund this themselves.  This grant would have enabled them to pay experts which appeal courts require these days. But are paid experts reliable and trustworthy? Like lawyers Paid experts produce what their employers want them to say so their evidence is biased and any child of average intelligence can see that. 

At the moment Russell MacVeagh lawyers are fighting both sides of the Unitary Plan parking rules. For SkyPath having to produce no parking at all for SkyPath under the new Unitary Plan is acceptable and R. MacVeagh will produce a paid expert if required to say this but for their clients Progressive Industries who oppose new developments that do not supply parking under the Unitary Plan it is not and if necessary R. Macveagh will produce another paid expert to argue this. This appears to be a money making cash cow for lawyers and experts and has little to do with justice! The courts and judges should be wise to this by now.  The public are not to be fooled.  Time and again Daniel Minhinnock, Russell MacVeagh reminded the judge that because his paid expert witnesses were paid they were infallible and the other sides unpaid witness was not worth listening to!   If Heritage Trust could afford Mr Minhinnok he would argue with equal force for Northcote Point. It is his job and he is paid to do it. He does not have to believe in it and neither do the paid experts. Unpaid expert witness who come forward on their own with no payment because the believe in what they are saying are far more valuable but not it appears in NZ courts at the moment. The richer side wins. Not quite cricket.

Two local resident societies withdrew. Westhaven withdrew their appeal because they felt that SkyPath will not be built and were not willing to pay huge sums to lawyers. They may live to regret this as the majority of SkyPath users are now being re-directed to their landing as everyone realises that the Northcote Point landing is totally inadequate for the traffic expected. NRA withdrew under the threat of the Council lawyers of exemplary expenses if they lost the case which could have cost millions and ruined many personally. 

I do not belong to either local society although I do live on Northcote Point so this was not my personal fight.  My major concerns do not lie in parking, noise and inconvenience issues although these are all valid. I live near the cinema/ restaurants/shops complex and I am used to crowds and no parking. Because of my professional crowd management experience with large events I am concerned with the safety aspects of SkyPath which are serious, many and have to be addressed. 

It seems Health and Safety is the last item to be addressed whereas I feel it should be the first. No good building SkyPath if it cannot be managed safely. Northcote Point is an unsuitable landing for what is now no longer a tourist attraction but a major transport hub serving thousands a day and many thousand on weekends, up to 20,000 a day in five years time and it is a pity that the resource consent was not judged under this category as NZTA would have had more input and maybe a better cheaper solution, perhaps two Western lanes on the Harbour Bridge now, approached by Stafford Rd and Westhaven. Could be done immediately, cost nothing, free and safe. This is my preferred option. Car owners have already given up many lanes in Auckland so two more would hardly matter. This is not going to happen! Even AT and NZTA who are happy to slice lanes off Auckland Streets dare not give up one lane on the Harbour Bridge although that is the solution. Try it for a month or two and see the patronage. If it works keep it if not shelve it. Cost nothing!

Although many residents can put this behind them because of my professional knowledge and experience in the field of crowd management and safety  I feel  I cannot stand by and leave it to others. It would be morally wrong of me to do so. Annoying as it maybe, and cyclists do think I am a spoil sport one thing is certain eternal vigilance not only applies to freedom but crowd safety. Just do it and see what happens in this area is a recipe for disaster. Traffic planners are not experts in crowd management as they deal with objects/cars that they can control. Crowds cannot be controlled like this and have to be managed. Crowds left to themselves are dangerous. Crowds need space even more space if they have bicycles. Big difference! Even though I may be unpopular at least SkyPath will be safer  when it is built than it is under the present design. I realise nobody in authority in Auckland wants to hear this, the council and some in government want a crowd pleaser up and running, bread and circuses, to take ratepayers minds off rate rises and economy and that is why SkyPath gets an easy passage from politicians and councillors who do not wish to lose votes and who can blame them. 

NZTA, AT, Councillors,  local MP Jonathan Coleman and the Transport Minister Simon Bridges are aware of SkyPath's safety issues and although the elected members have no responsibility of due diligence to ensure SkyPath is safe the other parties do. Health and Safety have heavy penalties for unwise risks to safety. I have been assured by the Minister and NZTA that they will be taking the safety issues very seriously indeed. I was impressed with the Minister and NZTA and I believe them when they say that no ones safety, user or resident, will be sacrificed for the greater good they mean it.

The CEOs have to sign off on this project and will be responsible for any injuries or worse that arise.   If I were a CEO at the moment I should have difficulty in doing this even for one million dollars+. Experience has shown with new bridges, it is the early days when problems arise. This year, 2016, two new major bridges have had to shut  because of safety and overcrowding problems that should have been addressed and were overlooked in the haste to get them built.  A wait and see basis  in this day and age is not acceptable but this is what the Judge Newhook has gone for. 

As ex Councillor and new Local Board member George Wood said at the Council meeting before the councillors voted unanimously for SkyPath the residents of Northcote Point have been very badly treated and I think this was obvious as well at the end of the Environment Court hearing. Like the council the judge gave every indication that he understood the problem and then voted for the opposite. The Environment Court was not asked to consider safety issues as this would have been dealt with by NRA,  just patronage numbers which are still anyone's guess. Auckland may take to SkyPath or may not but planners have to plan for the largest number. The judges conclusions when published will no doubt address this.

Now we all have to wait and see what happens next. There will be a big hiatus while NZTA works out how to mange SkyPath and if the Bridge can take it safely. Lets us all hope that the effects on Northcote Point as promised will be minimal and the SkyPath safety issues raised will be solved but whether I am around or not SkyPath must be safe and  fit for purpose for cyclists and Northcote Point residents alike. 

SkyPath - Save Northcote Point - Give a Little - Janette Miller

Help Save Northcote Point

 Northcote Point under threat of disappearing under Mayor Len Brown's Dream

The Mayor of Auckland Len Brown needs a legacy project for Auckland to remember him by. Let the citizens of Auckland and the World walk and bike across the Harbour Bridge.  Sounds a Dream. With all his power and Council funding SkyPath has passed its first hurdle with a Resource Consent giving SkyPath permission to go ahead.

There is only one snag that could ruin the party and it is a big snag -  SkyPath requires two major station hubs to funnel the visitors onto the SkyPath. The one at the Southern end can just about do it at a stretch but the other end SkyPath hits a snag - a snag that threatens the whole project only the mayor and cyclists are not going to let this get in their way. Build first and worry about it later!

Northcote Point Now

Northcote Point After SkyPath

For many years Northcote Point  has been tiny sleepy, leafy cul-de-sac  situated on a narrow peninsula beside The Auckland Harbour Bridge where no one wanted to live. The houses were cheap and run down but gradually over the years Northcote Point has been lovingly restored and now It is one of the nicest places in the world to live and visit with its restaurants, arts cinema and the ferry. There is little parking and really nothing to do for visitors but is a pleasant way to spend a lazy afternoon.

All this is about to change with the coming of SkyPath  this tiny suburb is about to deluged with 14,337 to begin and 20,000 tourists, pedestrians and bicycles in five years time every Saturday and Sunday afternoon and really nowhere to put them. It is that serious, there is nowhere to put them.




SkyPath is a commercial  tourist venture which plans to offer tourists, cyclists and pedestrians the chance to cross The Auckland Harbour Bridge by means of a 1.2 k tunnel attached to the lower side of the Harbour Bridge. It is being  promoted as a tourist attraction to rival the London Eye Ferris Wheel and it needs to attract huge numbers of paying visitors to make it pay.

The numbers are huge! 20,000 visitors a day trips off the tongue but SkyPath with the help of Mayor Len Brown is determined no matter what the cost this project is going ahead and with his help the resource consent was granted.

The cycle lobby is jumping for joy as their dream of biking across the Bridge in huge numbers is about to come true. The Mayor, media, and bikers via Generation Zero have made sure the whole world is invited and ready to roll but the residents of Northcote Point who know that their area is not up to it is trying to put up a fight to stop the madness before it starts but with the whole panoply of the forces in favour against them it is a bit of a David and Goliath operation.

Northcote Point is tiny. 2,000 visitors an hour is too many as has been and 20,000 not possible. NZTA will be forced to open lanes on the Bridge if this number turns up to avoid disaster.

The terminal would need to be of a considerable size to host the crowds expected in safety and to ensure a pleasant experience. It is after all a tourist attraction. Vancouver's Canada Line Bridge which was given as an example shows the area that is needed and this Bridge is not a tourist attraction. It links two industrial areas.  It has hardly any patronage as the area is so isolated yet it has a vast empty area around the portal and can be evacuated easily.

Contrast the area available with that of Northcote Point.

The space available for this major traffic hub at Northcote Point, is about the size of two tennis courts if that  and it can never get any larger, and to make it worse there is only one road entrance as shown. It is a cul-de-sac. All 20,000 visitors will have to enter  or leave through one tiny 5 meter portal blocked by turnstiles while a similar number are coming off and arrive or leave by this road. Even if the Council bought all the houses in the area there still would not be enough room and it would be so unpleasant that no visitor would want to come.

SkyPath, the Resource Commissioners and the Council  Officers all swore that these numbers would make a minimal impact on this heritage area but all refuse to say how these crowds are to be managed. So far all that has been offered are two security officers with a CCTV camera based at Westhaven, 1.2 k away on the other side of the Bridge. It is up to the residents to work it out.

If the residents protest they are presented as Nimbies and vilified in the media as spoil sports. The NRA point of view is stifled by a cycle mad press and Auckland Transport Authority who believe that residents have to be sacrificed for the greater good and the residents will have to learn to live with it. The general public just thinks the residents are being difficult.




All the cards are in the Mayor's hands. Because SkyPath won the Resource Consent it is fully funded for the Environment Court Appeal by lawyers paid for by The Auckland City Council via the Ratepayers of Auckland. Only in the Resource Court can ordinary people speak for themselves. Once it goes to a real court expensive lawyers are required.

I do not belong to the Northcote Point Residents Association.I live on The Point and I do support the Give a Little appeal.  They deserve every bit of help they can get to fight against this hasty Resource Consent. Even a few dollars will help! It is worth it to save this beautiful Point for posterity or at least to get the problems sorted out before SkyPath goes ahead.

This video was made for the Mediation Court that was held before the Environment Court Case begins. As an individual I could not afford to join this case. The Safety issues will not be not part of the Court Case. I made this video as visual evidence to show just how much space 2,000 cyclists take up. Bikes take more room than people. A picture is worth a 1,000 words but a moving picture really gives the true story. Like it or not this is what 2,000 cyclists look like.

 Yes they did start together  but there were never 2,000 cyclists on the Bridge at one time for  by the time the cyclists got there the crowds had evened out. In the opening close up there are just 15 cyclists in mid shot.  SkyPath intends to have 2,000 of Shared Path traffic both ways at anyone time. The path is just 4 meters wide with only two blocked egresses. One at each end.

The figures quoted are all taken from The Auckland City Research pdf for SkyPath 2014  pdf. These are the figures that were presented to the commissioners.  The figures were placed under oath in Court and so have to be believed. The figures are not made up.

Please help to to save Northcote Point.

Very little room for emergency services

Reception area for 20,000 people in 5 years.

Northcote Point 

One lane entrance of the two roads to below the bridge

© mmvi  2000 Cyclists Ride over Auckland Harbour Bridge-janette miller 

Can SkyPath fit 14337 cyclists on Northcote Point? SkyPath says it can!

Bike the Bridge 2015 a few of the 3,000 cyclists leaving Smales Farm

Can SkyPath fit 14,337 cyclists & pedestrians on Northcote Point between noon and 3 pm? SkyPath says it can! Many Northcote residents would like to know how SkyPath plans to do this. It is a big secret but they are sure they can do it.

A glance at the photograph above showing a few of the 3000 cyclists from Bike the Bridge 2015 leaving Smales Farm gives some idea of what the numbers involved might entail. The above crowd is by any standards huge and the official numbers were 3,000.  It looks more as they take up so much room. Northcote Point is to receive 14,337 every summer Saturday and Sunday between noon and 3 pm according to the Official Research by Auckland Council  into the viability of SkyPath and this is to rise to 20,000 + in 5 years time.

The Mayor and majority of councillors, SkyPath itself and the Independent Commissioners, Ms Karyn Sinclair - Chairperson, Ms Jenny Hudson, Ms Melean Absolum, and Mr Mark Farnsworth who granted the Resource Consent feel that the effects of this 14,337 on Northcote Point will be minimal.

The Resource Consent  Advice of Decision:

The adverse amenity effects at the Northern Landing (primarily associated with increased activity, privacy/overlooking, noise, and perceptions relating to safety and security) can be adequately mitigated through design and site management as proposed by the Applicant. 

The problem is no one has informed the residents of Northcote Point just how they are going to cope with this problem. The Mayor and SkyPath are convinced that they can  but refuse to say how. Maybe they do not  know exactly how much space is needed for 14,337 people queuing to get into a 4 meter tunnel with only two entrances and exits which are blocked by turnstiles.

Reasons for the decision: 

The reasons for this decision are included in the decision report above but can be summarised as follows: 1. In terms of section 104D(1)(a) of the RMA, the adverse effects of the activity on the environment at the Northern Landing have been considered as moderate. Turning to section 104(1)(a), mitigation measures have been incorporated into the design of the proposal, and a range of consent conditions have been imposed to ensure that any adverse effects on the environment for the entire proposal can be satisfactorily avoided, remedied or mitigated.

How exactly do the Commissioners propose to ensure that 14,447 can be accommodated with no adverse effects?  Are they experts in crowd management?

For Bike the Bridge 3000 cyclists needed the whole of Smales Farm with acres of car parks and all the Bus Station lanes as a meeting point. 300 official marshalls to slow down the traffic, a bank of porta cabins at each end, and around 100 buses to form a barrier for safety. NO pedestrians or children allowed and the traffic which filled the Bridge Lanes was just one way. Traffic was all one way and moving all the time. No stopping.

One has to be blind or stupid to see that Northcote Point with just 50 meters of available land for Skypath that even the 3000 for Bike the Bridge are not going to fit. There is virtually no space either side and one road entrance of about 8 meters, This is for traffic both ways plus pedestrians with children and push chairs.

Buildmedia simulation under Northcote Point. Over 14,000 people are expected!

The Official Research says this is the correct number and in fact SkyPath needs these numbers if it is not to fail financially. If it is built and it is underwritten by the Council and these numbers do not turn up these losses will be paid for by the Ratepayers of Auckland. To add insult to injury Northcote had it rates put up by 16% this year.  To date the costs to the Ratepayers must be millions.

Bike the Bridge Cyclists arriving at Westhaven 

Until last week there was really no visual evidence to support Northcote Point's predicament  but now there is evidence. Plenty of it. So come on Len Brown, Mayor of Auckland, Bevan Woodward, SkyPath's promoter and Ms Jennifer Valentine - Auckland Council's Lead Senior Planner, front up. Northcote Point is waiting.