What people want in the new Auckland

People surveyed saw traffic congestion as easily the top priority for the Auckland Council. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

A majority of Aucklanders say they would be willing to pay higher rates to be able to catch a train to the airport.

A two-week Weekend Herald survey of 300 people, interviewed face-to-face in the streets and at public events, also found that Aucklanders see improving public transport as the top priority for the new Super City council, just ahead of keeping rates down.

The survey, capturing the mood of the city on the eve of the merger of the region's eight councils into one, reinforces a phone-based Herald-DigiPoll survey this week that found a rail line to the airport was Aucklanders' top transport priority, ahead of improving the roads.

It comes as ballot papers for the first election of the new council start arriving in 962,000 voters' letterboxes today, and on the day the Onehunga branch rail line opens to passenger services for the first time in 37 years, marking a crucial first step on the most likely route to the airport.

People surveyed saw traffic congestion as easily the top priority for the Auckland Council. Asked what should be its top three priorities, 38 per cent nominated transport issues, well ahead of cutting council spending and rates (21 per cent).

Respondents were then shown a card listing 20 possible council priorities, including three related to transport.

This time, 35 per cent picked "improve public transport" as one of the top three priorities, narrowly ahead of "keep rates down" (34 per cent) and above "crack down on graffiti, gangs and crime" (29 per cent).

"Improve the roading system to reduce congestion" was fourth with 25 per cent.

The third transport-related option, "provide more cycle lanes", appealed to only 5 per cent.

Voters were then shown a more specific list of seven projects proposed by various mayoral candidates and were asked: "Would you be happy for rates to increase for the new Auckland Council to do each of these things?"

The question was repeated if necessary, after people picked projects they supported, to ensure they understood that they were being asked whether rates should go up to pay for those projects.

Many people dropped some or all of the projects they had picked when they understood the question.

Even after this repeated questioning, 53 per cent of the people interviewed said they would be happy for rates to go up to pay for a rail line to the airport.

There was less support for increasing rates for the other six projects - an inner-city rail loop (45 per cent), free swimming pools (36 per cent), expanding ferry services (31 per cent), sponsoring more big events (19 per cent), an international convention centre (15 per cent) and a new cruise ship terminal (13 per cent).

What do you want from the new Super City? Email your ideas to weekend@nzherald.co.nz