So the Environment Court has stopped Ikea from opening up in Auckland because they might be too popular.
The Environment Court has also stopped a Hilton Hotel from opening up a hotel on the Wellington waterfront. Apparantly a 5-star hotel might detract from the amenity values of the area, and a rival hotel chain was also able to stop competition from setting up on its doorstep.
Such stupid nonsense just highlight why the RMA must go. It is damaging consumer choice as well as being a huge deadweight on business activity and prosperity.
But I'll leave it to Blair Mulholland, my choice of candidate for Mount Albert, to comment in his own inimitable style concerning the Ikea decision.
I'd love to blame this malaise on the Labour Party, but this one is National's baby. Fuck you very much, Simon Upton. Not even your current country of residence, noted for its fortress mentality and xenophobia, has laws this retarded and draconian. So lucky you for not having to live here and deal with the consequences. I bet they have Ikea in Paris, you bastard. I hope you choke on your croissants.
Anyway, I have just realised it's a week-old story. But surely there's room for an Ikea at Albany? Or even Hamilton?
12 comments:
Have you seen the proposed site for the Wellington Hilton? It is currently a wind-swept barren shite-hole. A hotel is exactly what is needed, make it an enviro-friendly 1-star backpakers lodge with composting toilets, recycled bedding and a zen-lounge and its bound to get immediate RMA approval.
Maybe they would get approval if they could take away the vehicles, ie, the carparking in the area is currently underground (and underwater from my guess). Why not make the vehicular approach to the htel underground, too, or via an overhead ramp. With valet parking, (under queens wharf) there won't surely be a need for parking on the hotel site itsself?
Well, isn't that disappointing? Can it really be true that IKEA has been stopped cause it might be too popular....!? How stupid can a country be? Other than the most beautiful and diverse nature, this country does not offer much incentives to stop the outflow of NZers (or for that matter to get educated, civilized people to move here)
If a poor low-wage country like NZ will ever attract more modern so called professionals then modern retailers such as IKEA is a must!
/Disappointed
veeeery late comment, but actually I heard a different story about why IKEA aren't coming here. Apparently the NZ Franchise is held by one of the Australian franchise holders, and so far they have shown no interest in either setting one up here, or to sell it on to someone here. Some of this is economics as IKEA have strict rules about their franchises and one of these is population base - and we don't have that yet. The Herald's reporting has been very unreliable, the sources are always third hand and none of the rumours have had much substance.
Ikea in Wellingon - somewhere like that new industrial estate in Trentham or over in Porirua - a little more central for the whole island !
What ever the reason for IKEA not opening in New Zealand... it is a disgrace!! This country is soooo far behind in e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g else!! Eg. Only 2(!) mobile phone companies, HD TV was only introduced in July 2008(!), Broadband internet... what! you mean the dial-up speed that NZ is at compared to the rest of the civilized and industrial world! It truly shows we live on an island!
The decision - IF there was a decision not to introduce IKEA to the NZ market because it might be "too popular"... - if that was the excuse... it was a coward(!) decision!! Let NZ develop!! No wonder people want to get out of NZ, it's being held back in so many areas!!
this is a very late comment, so who knows if anyone will read it... but i cant leave such ignorance unchallenged. This vitriole about planning and rules, govt etc. is completely uninformed and typical right wing 'throw the baby out with the bathwater' chest beating rubbish. For one, does anyone seriously think people wont stay or move to NZ based on lack of an 'Ikea'? The 'refusal based on popularity' comment is provided with no context- the environment court is an incredibly complex but also well informed process, so the idea it was turned down for such a simplistic reason is just a media 'soundbite'.
In the UK, Ikeas in certain areas have been solely responsible for complete paralysis of the roading network. For example, the Brent Cross branch in North London causes complete gridlock on the North Circular road system- a motorway type system that connects large parts of north west, north and north east london. Planning takes into account how one thing can affect another, esp beyond a site's boundary. If you used the same 'capitalism demands it' argument for everything, you'd soon have plenty to complain about as all sorts of anti-social, ill thought out architecture and development was built.
And as for the comments about NZ broadband, HDTV etc- if these things were commercially viable without public intervention, why haven't they already happened? You can't have your cake and eat it too! The same people lamenting the resource management act (which by the way, is one of the LEAST onerous pieces of planning legislation in the western world- NZ is the only country I'm aware of that requires councils to prove negative effects rather than developers having to prove why they should be allowed to develop, as in many other countries)- these same people also lament lack of govt rolling out broadband etc. Which do you want? govt intervention or free markets? Much of the infrastructure that we take for granted, and much of the 'place' that you inhabit is best shaped by town planning. Lax planning, as has happened on the north shore of auckland for example leads to endless suburbia, no public parks other than the odd sports field, large big box retail sites that people are forced to drive to and are utterly soulless places.
Can you really tell me walking across a football field sized pieces of carparking tarmac is a better experience than a main street in a town centre, with landscaping, fountains, public art, cafes on the footpath etc?!. Should 'amazing places' only be ones that are 100s of years old or in other countries that you visit on holiday? Why cant we have those places too? As that one person said about us only having beautiful scenery- trust me, a cafe culture, public art, a 'sense of place', great architecture, and things to do- these are the things that people would move to NZ for- not whether or not an Ikea has opened up!!! Many people I've met who have visited NZ often say that the architecture is grim or the town centre was dead-and so they couldnt live there (not that they'd need an Ikea if they were to move to NZ!).
I'm not anti-Ikea though- they are a 'necessary evil' that many people here accept. But good town planning is crucial to balance the 'make profits today' mentality of many businesses, with the needs of the surrounding community. Which is what happened with the Albany decision- the impacts on traffic would have brought certain roads to an unacceptable stand still. Of course, when these things are built, people use them- just like awful flats, pollution and congestion filled motorways, etc...but it doesnt mean it's the best solution. In the UK, the crime, transport, and overall loss of social cohesion these types od developments brought led to even a right wing CONSERVATIVE govt in the 1990s introducing planning controls making it nigh on impossible to build new big box out of town retail. the result? A resurgence of the high street, with a resultant drop in litter, crime, graffiti, increased public transport use and better paid and more diverse employment. I know which I'd prefer...
"A resurgence of the high street, with a resultant drop in litter, crime, graffiti, increased public transport use and better paid and more diverse employment."
Can you cite some source for this claim? It was not my experience of life in the UK. Are you aware that Auckland has close to zero public transport and a much lower density of population than, say, london?
IKEA is a must for me. Looking at houses from the UK online it is striking how god awful the furniture is. We will have to get our relatives here to ship to us in the 3rd world if we move back.
I have had to live for too long without IKEA. It's about time it came here. Good furniture at affordable prices. How much better can it get in a place where the minimum wage is 12.50/hr.
Come on New Zealand
New Zealand should get IKEA. The idea of it being too popular is insane. Whats wrong with it being popular? I am sure there is room for it both in the north and south island. Their furniture is funky, affordable and quality. NZ wages are not flash. NZ needs to get up with times a bit more i think and the retail industry could do with a bit of a shake up. IKEA is just what we need.
Im a Kiwi, but it's moments like these when I am ashamed at how stupid some of our representatives in government can be.
Its bloody obvious why they aren't letting them in, so transparent...
Anything for a vote...
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