Getting Auckland growth on a sustainable track

The government has allocated nearly $4 million in this year's budget over the next three years to help Auckland develop more sustainably, Urban Affairs Minister Marian Hobbs and Auckland Issues Minister Judith Tizard said today.

The funding is for five initiatives under a combined central and local government programme - the Sustainable Cities Joint Action Plan for Auckland, launched last year.

The initiatives include projects to reduce traffic congestion on the way to school, and to help councils make the planning changes for the government's Auckland transport system package confirmed in March. That package requires local government to integrate transport planning with land use planning to improve the efficiency of the transport system.

"The budget funding will produce measurable changes, and will help focus Auckland's development on principles of urban sustainability. What we learn from these Auckland projects will be applied in other cities later," Marian Hobbs said.

"The work will also help integrate the economic, social, environmental and cultural elements of Auckland's development," Judith Tizard said.

The budget funding will be used to work on the following projects:

• Assistance for Auckland councils to improve the integration of transport planning and land use planning (over two years)
• School travel planning to help reduce road congestion (over two years)
• A project to incorporate sustainable principles into urban form design and development, including environmentally sustainable buildings (over two years)
• Sustainable Communities pilot projects (over three years) and
• Pilot projects to get young people involved in sustainable community planning (over two years).

Local government has also committed to contribute funding to most of the projects.