The Herald can reveal the mayor’s former chief of staff Max Hardy advised AT against connecting new city parking charges with a goal to raise $40m in revenue.
A series of harsh internal editing notes by the mayor’s chief of staff to a draft Auckland Transport media release has revealed wide-ranging disagreements within council organisations about a controversial city parking plan.
Most striking about the notes by Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown’s former chief of staff,Max Hardy, was the recommendation that AT should not connect the new parking charges with the goal of raising $40 million of extra revenue.
The email correspondence was obtained by the Herald under the Local Government Official Information Act, and ultimately led to an apology from AT’s chief executive, Dean Kimpton, being included in the statement that was released publicly.
The draft AT press release in question was intended to announce a delay to its implementation.
It announced the controversial new overnight charges would start on October 1, instead of July 1, to “consider mitigations” for those affected by the changes.
Hardy’s edit to the release took issue with a quote from Kimpton that the mayor and Auckland councillors should have been kept “more fully informed” about the changes before the proposal’s release.
“This implies the mayor and councillors were informed, just not ‘more fully’, which we don’t think is accurate and could get a negative reaction,” Hardy wrote.
“We don’t want to get into the chronology of what was said when, but our firm position (supported by an apology from AT last week) is that the mayor was not adequately briefed on this.
“Letting us know about a decision after the fact is one thing. In this case, an adequate briefing required information about the impact of the change, a plan around how the decision will be communicated and how risks would be addressed.”
In the eventual release that went out on May 15, Kimpton included an apology to the mayor over his lack of communication that was not in the draft version.
“I have also told the mayor we are sorry and could have done better at keeping him and other important stakeholders sufficiently informed,” the final press release stated.
Hardy also advised AT to not directly link the parking proposal to revenue-raising, highlighting another quote by Kimpton in the draft release that stated: “Auckland Council’s draft Long Term Plan also requires AT grow annual parking and enforcement revenues by around $40 million over the next three years.”
In his edit notes, the mayor’s former chief of staff highlighted the above quote and advised: “I would reconsider this sentence altogether.
“Linking the parking changes to plans to increase revenue is risky and defensive (it appears as passing the buck). It also annoys people a lot,” Hardy says.
“The parking strategy isn’t about increasing revenue – it’s about better use of space, increased turnover, parking being used for the right needs at the right time, and preventing developers passing on costs of parking to ratepayers.”
Max Hardy used to be the chief of staff in the mayor's office. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Auckland Transport chief executive Dean Kimpton. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Hardy also mentioned an article by Herald journalist Simon Wilson as demonstrating “much more effective ways to defend the [parking charge] change” by focusing on how it could create a safer and more pleasant CBD environment.
In the eventual media release there was no mention of the $40m.
Hardy also took issue with another quote by Kimpton in the draft press release that Auckland Council had already adopted the parking strategy.
Despite there being an April 2023 workshop on the proposal, Hardy says there was no formal resolution supporting it by the mayor and governing body of councillors.
Hardy’s email correspondence accompanying his media release edit was addressed to AT head of corporate communication Joanna Glasswell.
“We do not support the press release as it stands. We would need to consider issuing our own release correcting this one if there are not changes. Happy to discuss,” Hardy writes to Glasswell.
All of Hardy’s suggested changes were adopted in the eventual AT release on the issue.
Glasswell confirmed to the Herald that: “Yes. The content of the media release was agreed between the mayor and the AT chief executive.”
However, she would not confirm whether the new overnight parking charges would still be implemented at the delayed rollout date.
“We are continuing to work with community and business representatives and elected officials about the introduction of overnight paid parking in the city centre on 1 October,” Glasswell said.
The rollout of new charges on Sunday and public holidays went ahead as planned on July 1.
Parkers now will face hourly rates all day and through the night, whereas previously parking had been free in many parts of the city on Sundays and outside the hours of 8am to 6pm.
Auckland Transport has revealed plans to charge for parking in the CBD 24 hours a day and on weekends and public holidays. Source: Auckland Transport
The proposed overnight charge, potentially set for October 1, will be $2-$3 per hour, depending on the inner-city zone.
Mayor Brown was frank about being blindsided by the proposal when it was announced on May 10, and letters from AT arrived in Auckland city centre residents’ letter boxes.
“And I’m sick of it. [Auckland Transport] have got to start listening ... I did tell them the other day, ‘Don’t do that, I want a full parking strategy’,” the mayor said at the time.
The new “Central City Paid Parking Zone” covers on-street parking in the downtown area bordered by State Highways 1 and 16, including Wynyard Quarter in the west, south to the Upper Queen St overpass and east to the border with Parnell.
One inner-city resident feared the changes would cost him more than $11,000 a year.
“The letter was just dropped in our letterbox, you know? And I read it and was like, ‘Oh, that’s a massive, massive change’,” Anil Ramnath said.
“It seems very unfair ... and [you have] lots of questions as to why the decision was made without any consideration for people who live here.”
Hospitality New Zealand chief executive Steve Armitage also criticised the changes’ effect on workers in the sector.
“Hospitality workers from restaurants, bars, nightclubs and accommodation providers rely on cheap and safe inner-city parking options while at work,” Armitage said.
“In many cases, driving is the safest and most reliable transportation mode for workers to get home after finishing late. We know public transport options are harder to navigate in the early hours of the morning, and taxis or Uber are often not affordable enough for those relying on them to get home many times a week.”
In June, Hardy moved on as the mayor’s chief of staff to a role in the office of Auckland Council chief executive, Phil Wilson, as director of group strategy.
Tom Dillane is an Auckland-based journalist covering local government and crime as well as sports investigations. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is deputy head of news.
