Project Auckland: Businessman says more work needed to get workers back into Auckland CBD

Cockram led the team that turned Britomart from a run-down backwater into a thriving part of the city.

Matthew Cockram wants Auckland's leaders to pay more attention to getting people back to work in the city centre now the worst of the pandemic is over.

The businessman believes Auckland Council and central government should lead by example. "We need them to send the message that it's time for everyone to enjoy this wonderful city that we have spent so much time and money creating."

Companies should also encourage staff to go back into their central city offices. "One problem is that we have conflated the idea of people working from home during the pandemic with the ideas of flexible working arrangements.

"I'm not against flexible working, but it must be distinguished from the pandemic."

He foresees businesses facing problems when key staff are rarely on-site. "You need key people to point at and say these are our brand. You need the older employees to mentor and train the younger ones who are less likely to work from home."

As chief executive of Cooper and Company, Cockram led the team that turned Britomart from a run-down backwater into a thriving part of the city that attracts thousands each day to work, shop and relax.

He readily admits he has a self-interest in getting people back into the centre of town.

But he says it goes beyond that: "We all want to see our city succeed. It has recently come through a painful period with some of the road projects. It will soon emerge from the disruption of the City Rail Link construction. Now it deserves to be a busy, vibrant place in order to make use of that investment."

His contention is that the central city is a special location. He says it has been important for the past 200 years and even before that people were drawn to the place by its natural attributes. "At first almost by accident, but more recently by design, it has become the centre of many important things in the community."

He says there is an efficiency and a logic to a city having a single, central focal point. "You have all the prime entertainment venues and facilities in one place. It makes sense to have your transport networks distributed from one place. In Auckland's case, there is the railway station and the bus stops but there are also the ferry services and the cruise ship facilities in that part of town.

"There is education, retail, food and beverage. All these things are here. All these things have been provided by the public sector and supported by the private sector over the decades for good reason: it makes sense to have them in one place."

All those years of central city momentum have been disrupted by the pandemic. People who came into town now work from home. Many choose to shop, eat and drink in their local suburbs.

"There's no question this continues to have an impact on the central city," he says.

Cockram led the team that turned Britomart from a run-down backwater into a thriving part of the city.

"Pedestrian counts are a crude tool, but it's noticeable when you see the number of pedestrians passing in front of the counter cameras. The extended lock-down from August last year through to almost now has been the most severe on record."

Billions in investment at risk

Cockram says there is an important part of the puzzle that is missing: "Billions of dollars have been invested in the central city. It has been public and private money, historic and more recent. You don't make that kind of investment unless you believe in the place, you want to support it and see it flourish.

"I don't believe there has been enough attention to that in recent times from central government and from local government. They need to recognise what they have invested in the area and how that investment is now at risk."

There are a few basic matters Cockram would like both tiers of government to attend to.

"There is a perception that the city is not safe. That's made worse because there are so few people around. The government has used backpacker hostels and other short-term accommodation in the city centre to house 501 deportees arriving from Australia.

"It's not their fault, but they don't have anything to do all day, so they hang around. I'm not saying they are up to no good, but rightly or wrongly there is a perception and people can feel intimidated."

He wants officials to deal with the perceptions and the reality of this. It doesn't help that there have been fewer police on the city streets during recent months. This is changing now, but Cockram would like a more visible presence, more patrols and for police to reinstate either a downtown police station or some other facility.

There are parts of the central city that now look uncared for. He wants them to get more attention from a cleaning and general presentation point of view. One idea he suggests is to appoint uniformed city ambassadors. "It would give a bit of personality to the streets, but it also helps on the security front to have people play a concierge-type role."

Cockram led the team that turned Britomart from a run-down backwater into a thriving part of the city.

After the basics, Cockram wants Auckland Council and Auckland Transport to address the question of people getting around the central city. "Many Aucklanders don't know the major road projects are finished, there is still a scattering of orange cones and that gives the perception that the city is difficult to get into and difficult to get around. I'd like to see a wider appreciation by Auckland Transport of the impact of their projects including the City Rail Link and discouraging cars crossing the city from east to west."

He says public transport is now 'pretty good' in Auckland. "It'll be great to see patronage returning as people become more confident in their ability to use it."

To a degree, the issues that stop people from going back to central Auckland are about perception as much as reality and that's where work is needed.

• Cooper and Company is a sponsor of the Herald's Project Auckland report.