Phil Goff's column Aug 5: Protecting our future

Auckland is a great place to live. It is New Zealand’s only city of scale. We offer choice and opportunity in learning, in work and in play. We have the diversity that makes Auckland a really interesting place to be.

We also live in a great environment. Our natural setting is outstanding and marks our city out. We enjoy three harbours, a thousand beaches, the volcanic cones across the city, our regional parks and public open spaces around Auckland. Even in winter, our climate is moderate and not hard to live in.

Our attractiveness as a city to live in means more than 50% of New Zealand’s entire population growth is occurring here. This also creates the biggest challenge the city faces. Population growth, at 800 extra people a week, is putting pressure on the quality of our life. We need to ensure that we cater properly for growth and not let it undermine what makes Auckland a special place to be.

Ensuring our infrastructure is built as we grow is critical. We need an international class public transport system because, with 800 new cars in the city registered each week, we are becoming congested and headed towards gridlock on motorways.

We need thousands of more houses. As demand exceeds supply, it is becoming unaffordable to buy or even rent homes. We are already the third least affordable city in the world because we haven’t planned for the growth in demand and prices have gone through the roof.

The other area we need to be mindful of is preserving the beautiful environment we live in. That hasn’t got much attention or debate so far in the mayoral campaign but it is really important. Water quality is one issue. The Auckland Council State of the Environment report last year suggested that in 28% of our beaches, pollution meant that swimmers risk getting sick. It’s nowhere near as bad as Rio but it is still unacceptable. It is a problem we need to fix. Obsolete sewerage and storm water systems and runoff from our roads are part of the problem. We need a major upgrade of infrastructure.

One in six Auckland families have a boat and fishing is a popular form of recreation. In the Hauraki Gulf, our snapper fish stocks have been reduced to 19 per cent of their original size. What many regarded as our birth right, being able to catch a feed of fish for our families, is under threat. We have to stop the increasing sedimentation of the Gulf, which is damaging the habitat for fish. Commercial fishing techniques such as bottom trawling are also doing huge damage to fish spawning habitats and need to be stopped.

Thirdly, carbon emissions are something we have to play our part in dealing with. Last year at Paris, New Zealand accepted the obligation to cut emissions to reduce global warming. One way to do that is to speed up the change from petrol and diesel buses and cars to an electric fleet. Council can help promote that change starting with its own large 800 car fleet. Having an efficient, clean electric light rail system will also make a difference for the future.

Planting more trees in our city, especially mature trees helps absorb carbon.It also helps reduce runoff, protecting coastal and stream areas against erosion and providing a barrier to phosphates, nitrate and sedimentation getting into our waterways and destroying their quality.

As Mayor of Auckland, implementing these changes to protect the environment, which makes our city such a special place to live will be a priority for me. We need to preserve for our children and grandchildren the heritage we have and enjoy.