Posts Tagged ‘Meadowbank Train Station’

Call for Time Restricted Parking at Meadowbank Rd Shops

26 May 2019

Last week we talked with Hamad from the new cafe Meadowbank Eatery that recently opened at the Meadowbank shops midway down Meadowbank Rd. He expressed his disappointment that the car parks in the area in front of the shops being used all day by people using the train and how that was negatively impacting on his customer’s ability to park near the cafe, likely making it less likely that people would stop in. This was certainly our experience during our visit, and the double parked car trying to get their laundry into the laundromat while we were there further backs this up. Time restricted parking in this area has been on our Transport Sub-committee’s list for a few years, and with cars parking as far away as Harapaki Rd for the train station now, we don’t expect this situation to improve any time soon.

We approached Orakei Local Board’s Transport Spokesperson Carmel Claridge who reports that in her next board report she will direct Auckland Transport to introduce time restricted parking in this area.

On another note, did you know it is essentially free with a HOP card to get the bus to the train station? All travel within the same zone is only charged once. Click here to see the route and timetable information.

Civil works start on Housing NZ at site 9 – 11 Purewa Rd

28 September 2018

Housing NZ have informed us that site works are commencing shortly on their vacant land at 9 – 11 Purewa Rd, opposite Meadowbank Train Station.

Civil works will commence on Monday 1 October 2018
Construction work is expected to commence in November 2018
Expected completion date is November 2019

Hours of work on site are Monday to Saturday 7:30am to 6:00pm. Contractors will park on the vacant Puroto St site. Click here to view the letter delivered to nearby residents on Friday 28 September 2018.

Housing NZ Speaking at August Monthly Meeting

25 July 2018

Housing NZ have accepted our invitation to speak to us at our next monthly meeting on Tuesday 14 August. The presentation will cover the developments currently underway or planned in Meadowbank and St Johns, background on how Housing NZ decide what type of development to put on each site, some specific updates on Purewa Rd and Puroto St, as well as opportunity for questions.

The next meeting is at St Chads Church at 38 St Johns Rd. Meeting start at 7:30pm

To provide some background: thanks to the persistence of Grant Dickson and his team at Purewa / Puroto, on Friday 20 July the Residents Association finally met with Housing NZ (HNZ) about the development on Purewa Road. It’s taken more than two years to get this meeting!

Grant chaired the meeting, which was attended by OLB Vice-Chair Carmel Claridge, (now past) MSJRA Chair Tim Duguid and Treasurer, Barry Stewart, and a team of six from HNZ.

We noted the two main issues that residents have with this development: design and process. Specifically, the open stairwells and other aspects of the building and grounds; and the lack of consultation, which has been perceived, rightly or wrongly, as disingenuous. We emphasised, as we have in our correspondence to HNZ that we’re not opposed to developments by HNZ in our suburbs, that such a view would be inconsistent with the purpose of our Association, and that we’re not arguing against density or intensification. On the contrary, Grant put the view very eloquently that by consulting meaningfully with residents, better outcomes could be achieved for the whole community, including the HNZ tenants. Indeed we look forward to new arrivals in our suburbs joining our Association.

We’re pleased to report that HNZ listened to our concerns, and that they committed to engaging further with the community. Without promising wholesale changes to the building or site form, HNZ will review design details, including the stairwells, with Grant’s team, which includes an architect. A team from HNZ will also present to MSJRA before the start of construction, most likely at our meeting on Tuesday 14 August*. HNZ will also meet with the OLB in a workshop session.

HNZ is a significant landowner in our suburb and we hope this marks the start of a better engagement with our community.

Meanwhile, here’s the first colour image of the development on Purewa Rd that we have seen (view from towards the Orakei Basin end of Purewa Road).

Bus Stop Proposal for Meadowbank Train Station

19 May 2018

Another quick transport consultation! Most of you will know that over 1,000 residents signed the petition last year to get a bus service to connect with Meadowbank Train Station.

The petition noted that up to 22 car park spaces may have to make way for the bus stop and turn around. But also that just one bus per hour could deliver many more people, resulting in a net saving of car parks. The wider context of course is that on weekdays 100s of cars are parked along every street all the way to Bonnie Brae and Harapaki Street. More people are using the train each year, and whole lot more are likely to in five years’ time when the CRL opens, bringing Midtown, K Rd and Grafton closer to Meadowbank by train that they are by bus from the Meadowbank Town Centre.

Hence our support for the bus service. And for that matter, our support for better cycling / walking links to the station, not least from Gowing Drive! Besides parking hassles, one of the reasons we think the bus service will be popular for locals is because using the bus to the train station will be free from Meadowbank and St Johns if you also use the train.

Below is AT’s detailed design proposal for the bus stop and turn around. As you can see, the plan is for a bus stop and shelter right at the train station entrance, which we think is great. This makes for the shortest, flattest connection between the bus and train which is important for less able bodies, and allows the bus driver to see the trains on the platform. So buses shouldn’t inadvertently leave the stop just as a train pulls in!

The plans remove 21 car parks. They provide a number of time-restricted spaces for drop-offs and pick-ups, which is not always easy today without using nearby residents’ driveways (hardly ideal). The three car parks on the left hand side of Manapau Road have to go to allow the bus to swing around to the stop. These have been replaced with three new time restricted car parks opposite, at the island with the trees. Thanks to Orakei Local Board rep Carmel Claridge for that particular improvement 

But are there any other improvements that you could suggest? Can we squeeze another car park or two back in? Is there the right amount of parks in the pick up zone? Are you concerned about the possible loss of the trees, due to the new footpaths on the island? We think if the tree has to go, then it should be replaced with a new one. Or maybe the whole island could be replanted, saving on mowing costs?

*Closing date is this Monday 21 May 2018*

We haven’t been advised of a specific web page for this consultation, so please use the AT online feedback form: https://at.govt.nz/about-us/contact-us/feedback-form/ Select > “Making a suggestion” About > “Something else” and put “Meadowbank train station bus stop, Purewa Road” at the top of your comments. Or simply add comments on our and we’ll work with the OLB make sure these get to AT.

Bike to Train day Wednesday 28 February

6 February 2018

Join us for one day only to bike down to Meadowbank Train Station where there will be secure bicycle parking on the station platform for the day and a coffee cart with FREE coffee for people who turn up on a bicycle. We are running this on Wednesday 28 February, the last day of Aotearoa Bike Challenge Month. To make it easier, clear wayfinding signs will be put up around Meadowbank and St Johns. Avoid the usual parking hassles and ride your bike to the station instead. Go on, give it a go!

Why Bike to Train in Meadowbank?

Meadowbank Train Station is a long walk from the Town Centre, and from much of our suburb. So, many people choose to drive instead. But parking is becoming more and more difficult in the streets around the station. For some, cycling could make sense as an alternative. But cycling to the station is not without its challenges either. Which routes are safest? Will my bicycle be secure if I leave it there all day? This event is a pilot trial, to see if decent wayfinding signs and secure cycle parking, on the station platform, in line of sight of the CCTV (and, yes, even a free coffee) could make a difference.

Many thanks to Bike Eastern Suburbs and Auckland Transport for their support.

See the Bike to Train flyer

New bus network: Meadowbank Train Station will be connected!

25 November 2017

New bus network: Meadowbank Train Station will be connected!

AT have released the new bus network and, although the link below still says that the #729 link to Meadowbank Train Station is subject to further investigation, AT has just confirmed that this will go ahead, from the start of the new network, in July 2018.

Naturally, we are delighted about this outcome. We acknowledge the work of the Orakei Local Board: they have been meeting with AT fortnightly to work through this issue among other things. They have heard the overwhelming support from our members and residents generally. Not only that we want the bus service extended to Meadowbank Station, but that we regard this as a positive step to address the car parking challenges in the area.

To the more than 1,000 of you who got involved and signed one of Richard Roxburgh’s petitions, in the mall one Saturday afternoon, or at the station on a cold winter’s morning: give yourselves a pat on the back!

The details still need to be worked out, and our work continues, in particular as we advocate for a good level of service, and useful operating hours for the new #729 (note the correct description should be Ellerslie Station to Mission Bay via Meadowbank and Grand Drive). As you can see in the timetables in the same link the #729 is proposed to run hourly, and not after 9 pm weekdays and not on weekend evenings at all. This may work for transferring to your train, especially through the day when there’s a train every 10 or 15 minutes; but we don’t see this as providing a useful service for getting back on the bus from your train! Or for getting back by train from an evening in in the city, or Sylvia Park, or for that matter from the Mission Bay waterfront.

We’re also engaging with Auckland Transport about how to address the loss of a bus service through St Johns Park. Our proposals include routing the #729 bus through Norman Lesser Drive and Panapa Drive, though there may be other possibilities, and as always we are focused on the outcome (a bus service through St Johns Park) not the specific solution. At this stage it looks like we may have to wait until after the new network is up and running.