Josh Van Veen: Wayne Brown’s first month

Wayne Brown has been Mayor for a month, and already he has done more to change Auckland than Phil Goff did in six years. The changes began even before Brown was sworn in. Only hours after the election results were announced on 8 October, the Chair of Auckland Transport Adrienne Young-Cooper resigned. It set in motion a radical change of direction at the Council-Controlled Organisation (CCO), encouraged by an open letter from the Mayor-elect.

Much to the frustration of some, AT’s executive leadership has instructed staff to be less preoccupied with ‘active modes’ such as walking and cycling. In practice, this could make Goff’s Transport Emissions Reduction Pathway null and void. Under the Pathway, adopted by the Council in August, transport emissions must be reduced by 64% before the end of the decade. This ambitious target was always fanciful, given that emissions were forecast to go up by 6% under the current 10-year Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP).