DATE
25 February 2021
TIME
4pm – 5.30pm
LOCATION
Aotea Station project office: Level 10, Wellesley Centre, 44 Wellesley Street West, and virtually on MS Teams
MEETING
Aotea Station Community Liaison Group Meeting
ATTENDEES
Community attendees: Bruce Castle, Manhattan Apartments Tania Loveridge, Heart of the City Bruce Glover, Mexican Cafe Michael Fisher, 6-12 Kingston St Shobhana Ranchhodji and Jugdish Naran, Roma Blooms Florist Ann Hewlett, Tony’s Lord Nelson Steak Restaurant Rob Webb, interested member of the public Simon Woodhouse, Auckland Council Link Alliance attendees: Carmel Lapwood – Communications & Engagement Advisor Marty Jones – Senior Communications & Engagement Advisor Shaun Sutton – Community Manager Matt Sinclair – Station Manager Liv Young – Development Response Manager Amanda Petherick – Campaigns & Events Specialist Alan Whiteley - Urban Realm Lead Craig Mathieson - Planner Auckland Transport: James Wickham, Auckland Transport
Agenda • Introductions • Construction Update and Upcoming Milestones - Matt Sinclair, Station Manager • Above-ground design plans (e.g., streetscape, trees, station building design), Alan Whiteley, Urban Realm Lead, Link Alliance • 2019/2020 Social Impact and Business Disruption annual report summary – Craig Mathieson, Planner, AECOM / Link Alliance • Mid 2021 Intersection Closure Switch – Shaun Sutton, Community Manager
Presentations All presentations from Link Alliance are published with these minutes. Questions Construction Update and Upcoming Milestones - Question around top-down vs bottom-up construction locations The top-down construction method will begin where the tunnel boring machine (TBM) breaks through on Mayoral Drive and runs through to approximately 10 meters north of the corner of Kingston to Albert Street in front of the District Court. - Question around duration of upcoming works In each zone we are in the process of building roof slabs to allow us to go underground and continue with the rail tunnels and station build. 2023 will see the majority of this work complete with 2024 for commissioning the railway systems and allowing for final urban realm improvements to take place. - Question on why the project was delayed prior to Link Alliance Link Alliance was only contracted to start work in July 2019 and are on track to meet the targets set at that time to complete its works by 2024. - Question around any current delays Currently we are only approximately 2 days delayed against our master programme. This will be made up by weekend work where possible, so essentially at this current point station construction is “on programme”. - Question around Bluestone wall moving 1.5 metres The Bluestone wall will be moving 1.5 meters to the east to allow for the station box to be built. It will be reinstated block by block in full by 2023. - Has there been confirmation of the Watercare wastewater work on Wellesley Street yet? Not to our knowledge, but there are ongoing coordination discussions around this. - Question around potential main sewer pipe damage in Victoria St area The Orakei main sewer line that services Auckland Central runs underneath Victoria Street, and there was significant strengthening works done to this a few years ago. Link Alliance is aware of where the line is and will be avoiding works that could potentially interfere with it. - Question around when the road will open again in North zone. We will continue to maintain access to 87 Albert Street but the road between Victoria & Wyndham Streets will not be fully opened again until approximately late 2023. -
Question around why the concrete slabs (e.g. roof slabs) are built onsite (and not precast to save time) After looking at multiple methodologies this was the most efficient and effective way to build the slabs. -
What is the size of the slabs?
The slabs vary in size, for example the ones in the north will be 10 meters x 15 meters and 1.2 meters deep. - Question around transporting in pre-cast roof slabs to reduce business disruption To bring in already pre-cast concrete slabs of this size would require something in the region of a 600-tonne crane (there are currently no cranes available in NZ of this size). In any case, having a crane of this size in the tight central city working space we have would actually mean greater disruption to businesses. - Question around timings of concrete pours Each concrete truck can hold 5-7m³ of concrete so it will depend on the size of each pour. For the first roof slab pour in the North which will require approximately 200m³, that will take approximately 40 trucks concrete trucks. - Question around traffic disruption Link Alliance works in partnership with Auckland Transport to reduce traffic disruption wherever possible. Traffic management plans are created to ensure access to property is maintained, and traffic disruption is kept to a minimum. - Question around change in scope of cut and cover work (bottom up construction) There has been no change in the size or location of the cut and cover works since Link Alliance plans were presented to the public in 2019. Above-ground design plans - Question around what a plenum is and what it contains A plenum is an above ground stack that will be used for heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning of the station. The plenum will be constructed on Kingston St. - Question around trees and where they will be replaced and where they will not All of the trees that were removed from the three Link Alliance station sites will be replaced, but some will need to go into new locations due to new utilities requirements. - Question around birds and excrement around trees Wherever there are trees, birds and their excrement are potential issues. Any mess created will ultimately be managed by Auckland Council. - Question around why trees are being permanently removed Certain trees on site were removed due to their roots being tangled in and around the key services in the area, and would not have survived a transplant. - Question around loading zones for retail There will be some loading zones in the surrounding station area. These locations will be made available during the upcoming Urban Realm public engagement process. Heart of the City asked it be noted to the group they have been asking Auckland Transport for some time for a loading and servicing plan for the midtown area. 2019/2020 Social Impact and Business Disruption annual report summary
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Question around the number of complaints, how they are registered, what counts as a complaint. A summary of how Link Alliance defines what is a complaint will be included in the final SIBD annual report. - Question around pedestrian count data. Link Alliance has received data from Auckland Transport about historical pedestrian numbers in the area. In addition, Link Alliance has commissioned a pedestrian count of the Victoria St area pre this intersection closure to vehicles (further data will be collected post closure). It was noted that Covid 19 has had significant impacts on pedestrian traffic in the city centre. - Question around relocating businesses Relocation of businesses is outside of the scope of the Link Alliance, however temporary “pop up” activation locations have been made available where possible. - Question around why there are big busses that are empty coming into the city centre Response from AT representative: it is not viable to have multiple bus sizes to operate a network of this size. The busses are of a certain size to allow for the busiest periods of the day, I.e., commuter times. Often these large buses have been full earlier in their trip, and the city centre is often the last stop where the last passengers get off. - Question around who reports to who in regards to stakeholder communications The Community Manager is responsible for stakeholder communications, with a team of four, two who look after direct stakeholder communications and two who look after development response I.e., wayfinding, signage, activations, business support programme. The Community Manager reports to the Link Alliance Communications & Engagement Manager, who is based at the Link Alliance Head Office in Newmarket. - Question around SIBD annual review process. The draft report will be released to the group for feedback before finalising. In terms of the data used to write the report, this included development response metrics, site walk-overs, and Link Alliance data such as complaints registers. The community will have an opportunity to provide input to the draft report.
Complaints raised at the CLG - Complaint about AT trying to reduce cars in city centre resulting in a drop in business activity AT and Auckland Council have widely publicized that in order to reduce congestion on the roads, there needs to be an increase in public transport use and less private vehicle use in the city centre. More information can be found in the Auckland Unitary Plan, at this link: https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/plans-projects-policies-reports-bylaws/our-plansstrategies/unitary-plan/Pages/default.aspx -
Complaint around City Rail Link not offering compensation to businesses throughout the works – This has been referred to City Rail Link Ltd. -
Complaint around business posters, wayfinding, inability for businesses to input into design, lack of logos in some cases
– We are constantly looking at ways to improve and are always contactable to discuss the community's needs in this area or an individual business need. - Complaint around inability to have a separate business liaison group – Link Alliance runs a quarterly Community Liaison Group to allow all members of the community to engage with upcoming works plans. There is also an upcoming community workshop for businesses to contribute to the development response plan for the Victoria / Albert intersection vehicle closure. In addition, Link Alliance supports businesses individually according to identified need, through a business support package available to all businesses in the area. -
Complaint around wayfinding problems creating anxiety to pedestrians and putting off people being in the area We regularly audit wayfinding to ensure compliance and visibility, and welcome any particular suggestions for improvements. - Complaint around communication to stakeholders around upcoming works being insufficient – Stakeholders are notified of works in person, on the phone, via works notification emails, and station newsletters. It is a requirement that affected persons are notified of works occurring directly in their area. A quarterly survey is run allowing feedback around whether these are effective methods of communication for the community - Complaint around loading zone enforcement. Link Alliance will continue to raise this issue with AT, and stakeholders are also welcome to contact AT directly as well. Meeting closed at 6.10pm.
Subsequent response from Auckland Transport to issues raised at the CLG • •
AT will instruct the traffic infringement team to have a greater presence in the areas around site where there are loading zones that are being infringed AT will look at Albert/Victoria Street traffic light sequencing to see if the red arrow can be removed from Victoria Street to ease the traffic congestion coming from Durham Lane