Hey, where did our Town Square go?
It’s great to see something proposed for the Takapuna carpark site. Apart from the one day of the week when the market attracts thousands to Takapuna, mostly from other parts, the carpark is a cold, souless heart.
But are Panuku’s three consultation options really the only available, selling 80% of the carpark to develop the remainder into a 1600m2 “town square”? You can do rough measurements based on Panuku’s “Current Consultation, Option 2".
It’s not easy to imagine how Panuku’s currently proposed “town square” will seem in 10 to 15 years time when Takapuna has grown as planned, more high-rises, a lot more people, better public transport. It’s approximately the same size as Federal Square in Auckland City.
At ground level, that square’s a welcome breathing space, a respite between some very tall buildings – just how Takapuna will develop perhaps?
Federal Square is not flat, it mostly serves to transit pedestrians - small groups of city workers chat and eat their lunch. If it was flat it could be the venue for a small public event, maybe a string quartet, not a 40-piece big band. I once saw a small film crew, shooting a TV commercial, completely take over the square, pedestrians threading between them. Federal Square, the same size as that offered by Panuku for Takapuna, is not big enough to be the beating heart of a vibrant Metropolitan Centre.
The flat paved area in front of the Aotea Centre is approximately 3000 m2.
It’s often “activated” with events. You can put a covered ice skating rink there and it still functions to transit pedestrians. It has an adjoining green-scaped area too, like Potters Park – a passive recreation area where refugees from apartments and offices can lie on grass or shade beneath trees.
Interestingly, the flat paved area in Aotea Square is similar in size to that suggested by Panuku in its July 2017 Framework Plan. You could roughly measure that as just over 3000 m2
Now, 12 months later, all Panuku says that can be created is a Town Square half the size, 1600 m2, not really a “square” more a transit strip.
There are positives in Panuku’s current consultation suggestions. The link from Lake Road through the new link to Hurstmere Road, Hurstmere Green and Takapuna Beach is great. And Panuku should be kept to their 2017 Framework Plan words, “carparking to be located below ground level”. But the current Town Square options are miserly. It’s not their final offer, it’s a negotiating position. The take-it-or-leave-it line is silly, Takapuna should expect more.
As a dear architect friend told me last year, "once public space is gone, you never get it back". For now, until there’s something better, I’m voting Option 3. tinyurl.com...
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Witnesses sought in relation to mass disorder on K-Road Auckland
Police are appealing to the public for any footage they may have of the mass disorder that occurred on Karangahape Road in Auckland in the early hours of Sunday 28 December.
Emergency services were called to the disorder around 3.41am where it is estimated around over 50 people were present.
A Police investigation is underway after there were three serious assaults on and around Karangahape Road during the mass disorder.
A portal has been set up to allow the public to upload any footage they have of the disorder and the serious assaults.
The portal is https://dahr.nc3.govt.nz/
Police have arrested one person but are asking for help to identify and locate others involved.
• Around 4:15am there was a serious assault outside the Crown Bar on Queen Street.
A 33-year-old man received serious injuries and was hospitalised.
The offender is still unknown, and the Police file number is 251228/4647.
• Around 4:30am there was another serious assault on a Cobden Steet just off Karangahape Road.
A 27-year-old man received serious injuries and was hospitalised.
The offender is still unknown, and the Police file number is 251228/4462.
• Around 5am there was third serious assault at the Mobil Service Station on the corner or Karangahape Road and Ponsonby Road.
A 46-year-old man received serious injuries and was hospitalised.
A 21-year-old man has been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
He has been bailed to appear in court again on 16 January 2026.
The Police file number is 251228/4774.
Police would like to speak to anyone who has witnessed or filmed the assaults.
Witnesses can call Police directly on 105.
Please quote one of the above file numbers.
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