Connor Sharp
@connorsharp.bsky.social
Campaign Director @greaterauckland.bsky.social and #1 light rail fan 'Unaffiliated Individual' - NZ Infrastructure Commission Officially more popular than a Real Housewife of Auckland Views my own https://linktr.ee/ConnorSharp
"Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has said he will use federal power to force the Queensland and NT governments to fall into line with his plan to require data centres to fully offset their electricity use with investments in renewable energy." Good. www.smh.com.au/environment/...
‘We will use all the powers available’: Bowen lays down law to states on data centres
Energy Minister Chris Bowen insists the data centre boom and his plans to drive down Australian emissions can co-exist.
smh.com.au
The NZ govt has signed a PPP for a 4-lane highway from Warkworth to just short of Northland, saying it's "good value for taxpayers". @connorsharp.bsky.social asks: What will this colossal project actually cost us—in money, resources and lost opportunities? www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2026/08/03/w...
What will Warkworth to Te Hana cost us? And other burning questions - Greater Auckland
Last week, late on Thursday afternoon, Minister of Transport Chris Bishop announced that NZTA also says the claimed trigger for reliability has been hit (i.e. how many times the road is unexpectedly c...
greaterauckland.org.nz
Analysis: A multi-billion-dollar public-private partnership will build the most expensive road ever built in NZ but low benefit-cost ratios raise questions over value.
$3.65b Northland expressway promises minutes saved but could deliver thin returns
newsroom.co.nz
“Traffic modelling confirms no need for four whole new lanes anytime soon. Nor does this go anywhere near the Brynderwyns, which desperately need resilience. […] A Minister looking to leave a laudable legacy, let alone ‘fix the basics’, would have steered us in a more rational direction than this.”
Connor Sharp@connorsharp.bsky.social · 4d agoMy opinion piece in the Sunday Star Times today on the opportunity cost of RoNS and Warkworth to Te Hana: www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3610...
My opinion piece in the Sunday Star Times today on the opportunity cost of RoNS and Warkworth to Te Hana: www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3610...
Northern expressway poor use of public money
OPINION: Of all the candidates for worst intersection in New Zealand, Warkworth’s notorious Hill St is right up there. A chaotic tangle of local and regional roads, for decades, it’s been a congested ...
thepost.co.nz
Wow all the PPP payments are redacted for Warkworth to Te Hana! Amazing how transparent that is :)
Sounds like we should be looking to build a new bridge then rather than a tunnel that could take a decade + to build! www.thepost.co.nz/politics/361...
‘Sobering reminder’ of need for another crossing: Chris Bishop on disruptive Auckland Harbour Bridge repairs
The Post revealed critical renewals will trigger “significant network and economic disruption” for Aucklanders for a decade from 2030.
thepost.co.nz
Amazing that the massively boosted BCR for Warkworth to Te Hana is still just over 1 (doubling since the 2019 business case despite the projects cost also doubling) Funny that spending more money on RoNS is also counter to the cross party supported National Infrastructure plan!
one road, not even long enough to run a marathon on, for the low low price of 42 times the entire 2027 budget for scientific research in new zealand #nzpol
Biggest-ever PPP: $3.6b Northland expressway deal signed
The 26km expressway will include twin tunnels through the Dome Valley.
nzherald.co.nz
goodbye all the transport money 🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/warkworth-te-hana-ppp-signed
beehive.govt.nz
TPU glove puppet the Ratepayers' Alliance coached Auckland Council's dimwit faction to propose cutting rates by failing to fund depreciation. These people are chaos agents. thespinoff.co.nz/politics/30-...
How an anti-rates lobby group tried to influence a breakaway council budget
Wayne Brown is accusing a group of councillors of secretly pushing the agenda of the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance. They strongly deny the claim.
thespinoff.co.nz
Cities dismantled their tram networks to become “motor cities of the future”. The result? You could travel further within 30 mins via public transport in 1957 than you can in 2026. Cities are seeking billions to rebuild networks. Incredible piece of work this.
The Exchange@theexchangeleeds.bsky.social · 2w agoIf you stood on Briggate at 8am on a weekday in 1957, and stood there again in 2026, in which year could you reach more of the city in half an hour? Samuel Bancroft has crunched the numbers. Since the 1950s, Leeds has got bigger - but the city has effectively shrunk.
Head of Transport Safety at Auckland Transport just said at the Council committee that "under the previous speed rule we could set 30km/h limits, which we all know are survivable. Under the new one we can't we can only set 40km/h limits"
It may take *five years* to restore safer speeds to Auckland's communities via the labyrinthine process dictated by Simeon Brown's blanket Speed Rule. And even then, Council's hands are tied re evidence-based best practice, writes @connorsharp.bsky.social: www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2026/07/27/f...
Five years to restore safer* speeds in Auckland? - Greater Auckland
Tomorrow’s meeting of Auckland Council’s
greaterauckland.org.nz
Not to get into the pros and cons of free fares, but spot the difference: Mamdani: "We're going to make the buses fast and free." Bass: "I'll build a long-term financial plan to make Metro fare-free."
Mayor Karen Bass@mayor.lacity.gov · 2w agoAs Chair, I’ll build a long-term financial plan to make Metro fare-free. I’ve fought for a world-class transit system my entire career because public transit should create opportunity for everyone.
Sat through Auckland Councils debate today on PC120. Deja vu where the same people try and water down/delay plan changes aimed at getting more houses where they need to be (centrally), as they have done for years and years. However they lost and a decent compromise went through!
Hopefully that's some useful background on SCA! It basically doesn't exist outside 10km from the city centre btw. We have restarted now with speech in favour of the staff recommendations from Cr Hills as mover.
SCA for Puketāpapa LB area - as a percentage of residential properties: 3.8% under Akl Unitary Plan (AUP) 2.5% under all PC120 scenarios Suburbs: Mt Roskill, Three Kings, Royal Oak, Wesley, Lynfield, Hillsborough The key thing to understand about the difference between SCA for AUP and PC120 is...
While SCA within 10km of the city centre stats are this: 13.9% of residential sections under Akl Unitary Plan 10.3% under all PC120 scenarios The general rule is the further you get from the city centre the less there is (with a bump for Devonport which has heaps). As shown by the stats for...
SCA for Albert Eden LB area - as a percentage of residential properties in the area: 27.9% under Auckland Unitary Plan 20.5% under PC120 (original and all new scenarios) Suburbs incl: Mt Eden, Kingsland, Morningside, Mt Albert, Pt Chev, Waterview, Balmoral, parts of Epsom
SCA for Waitematā LB area - as a percentage of residential properties in the area: 55.3% under Auckland Unitary Plan 46.2% under PC120 (original and all new scenarios) This is Ponsonby, St Mary's Bay, Herne Bay, Grey Lynn, Westmere, Arch Hill, etc.
“Campaign manager for advocacy group Greater Auckland, @connorsharp.bsky.social, said [the revised policy] was a good compromise. ‘It keeps a lot of the intensification within the isthmus where we really need more housing, so in that aspect, it's really good.’” www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
'People just need certainty': Auckland councillors to vote on controversial housing density plan
Auckland councillors are voting today on how much housing intensification the city should have - and where it should go - after getting feedback from local boards and mana whenua.
rnz.co.nz
Never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line and never go up against NZers when it's about the best birds.
Jer Thorp@jerthorp.bsky.social · 2w agoIn the end, it wasn't even close. The pīwakawaka is the best "ordinary" bird in the world! Undefeated in 8 matches, this little guy was the class of the tournament by some distance. #WorldCupOfBirds
