Hubbard takes a leaf out of Westies' book on green issues

Mayor Dick Hubbard is on a mission to turn Auckland into a sustainable city - 13 years after Waitakere embraced the concept of being an eco city.

Mr Hubbard yesterday announced that he was setting up a mayoral taskforce on sustainable development in the next two weeks to come up with bold ideas and practical steps towards sustainability. The taskforce would include business people and environmental and technology experts.

Mr Hubbard said that after attending an international conference on sustainability in South Africa in February - at an estimated cost of $10,000 to ratepayers - he became acutely aware of the urgent need to sharpen the city's focus on the issue.

"We need to take urgent action on such issues as how we deal with our natural resources, being more energy and water efficient, reducing our reliance on oil and increased recycling of waste."

He said the council could take its own steps to save money on water, power and waste management.

Last year, Mr Hubbard set up a taskforce on urban design to overhaul the planning controls that led to the ugly cluster of buildings on the old railway land at Quay Park and thousands of "chicken coop" apartments.