The Environment Select Committee has released its report and recommended amendments to the Natural and Built Environment Bill. Supporters of The Tree Council and the New Zealand Arboricultural Association sent more than 3,300 submissions to the select committee supporting the changes recommended in their Stop the Chop campaign. The Parliamentary...
From 1 July 2023, the sale and manufacture of many single-use plastic products have been banned, restricted or phased out. Drinking straws Cutlery Bowls, trays and platters without lids Produce bags used to pack fresh fruit and vegetables Produce labels. The ban applies where items are sold or supplied for...
The Environmental Defence Society has released its review of the Conservation Management Planning System, calling for urgent reform. Co-authored by Dr Deidre Koolen-Bourke, Raewyn Peart, Bronwyn Wilde and Tracey Turner, the report reviews the adequacy of the legislation and policy settings, statutory planning documents, concessions system and institutional arrangements for...
Within the next 12 months, Auckland Transport (AT) will introduce easier payment options across all of Auckland’s buses, trains, and ferries. This will enable customers to tag on and off with debit/credit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay, alongside the current AT HOP card. The changes will apply to...
Auckland Council is asking for feedback on how Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland should grow over the next 30 years, with public consultation open until 4 July 2023. Council expects half a million more people to be living in the city by 2058. The strategy is its plan to make sure homes, jobs...
ARA Heritage Buses is a small band of volunteers devoted to saving examples of ex Auckland Regional Authority buses. They have recently acquired the very first ARA Mercedes Benz 0305, bus no. 1301. This was the first truly modern bus in Auckland. The iconic yellow Mercedes 0305 buses became the...
Bike Auckland has an article here, outlining their call for one lane on the Auckland Harbour Bridge to be permanently motor traffic-free, enabling people to walk and wheel across Te Waitematā between the North Shore and the CBD. They say that converting one lane for walking and cycling is the...
The Environmental Defence Society has released its second working paper as part of its Aotearoa New Zealand’s Climate Change Adaptation Act: Building a Durable Future project, which develops recommendations for the content of the new Climate Adaptation Act. This paper, co-authored by EDS Policy Director Raewyn Peart and Legal and...
The Ministry for Primary Industries is reviewing the rules for preventing seabird bycatch in the surface longline fishery. Some of the species inadvertently captured are already threatened or at risk of extinction. There are proven techniques fishers can use to reduce the number of seabirds caught. Forest and Bird have a...
41,146 Aucklanders had their say on Auckland Council’s proposed Annual Budget 2023/2024, the largest amount of feedback received for any public consultation by the council. The feedback will now be considered by the Governing Body and local boards as they work through final budget decisions. The full regional feedback report...