State of the environment

Our Changing Environment 2004/2005

Image of man walking in a park. Our Changing Environment Report 2004/2005 builds on the information gathered in previous reports and reflects on the progress that we have made. Some results show noticeable improvement, however many give cause for concern. The volume of waste being sent to landfill continues to increase, moving us further from our target of zero waste to landfills by 2020. In spite of a growing use of public transport, health-based guideline levels of nitrogen dioxide were exceeded 26 times in the year 2004/2005 compared with ten times in 1998. An estimated 80 per cent of ambient nitrogen dioxide is caused by vehicles.

Turning around these trends requires us all to think about, and recognise, the real costs of our actions, not just economically but socially and environmentally. This will take a long-term commitment from all of us. Finding innovative, effective ways of managing our impacts on the environment is our joint responsibility and the city needs your help to make this happen.

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Download the introduction section of Our Changing Environment 2004/2005 (366k)

Our people
At June 2005, the resident population was estimated to be 425,400. This is an increase of 9.4 per cent in just four years making Auckland city the fourth fastest growing of all New Zealand�s cities and districts next to Tauranga City, Manukau City and Rodney District.

Auckland city is ethnically diverse with 181 ethnic groups identified in the 2001 census and a higher proportion of Asian population than the region as a whole and New Zealand.

Download the our people section of Our Changing Environment 2004/2005 (151k)

Our economy
After a five-year period of strong growth averaging 4.1 per cent per annum from December 1999 to December 2004, the national economy is starting to slow. For the year to June 2005, New Zealand�s GDP grew by 3.1 per cent and is expected to grow by around 2.2 per cent for the next two years.

Auckland remains the business centre of New Zealand accounting for 29 per cent of the country�s employment. As of March 2004, the leading industry in Auckland city was business and property services, accounting for 21 per cent of total employment.

Download the our economy section of Our Changing Environment 2004/2005 (338k)

Air quality
Though levels of some pollutants such as fine particulates and sulphur dioxide show some signs of improvement, the level of nitrogen dioxide, a key emission from motor vehicles, is on the increase with 26 exceedences in the year 2004/2005 compared with ten in 1996.

Download the air quality section of Our Changing Environment 2004/2005 (289k)

Water resources
With continued infrastructural progress, it is anticipated that improvements in water quality will continue over the long-term. The Integrated Catchment Study, suggested to be the largest study of its kind ever carried out in the Southern Hemisphere - with the aim of guiding long-term integrated catchment management and prioritising infrastructural improvement works - has identified zinc as a key pollutant which must be addressed. One of the key sources is runoff from galvanised roofs in commercial industrial estates.

Download the water resources section of Our Changing Environment 2004/2005 (950k)

Climate change
The National Institute of Water and Atmosphere predicts that because of global warming, temperatures in New Zealand will increase by 0.3 to 1.4 degrees Celsius by 2030, with projected increases for 2070 of between 0.6 and 2.8 degrees. This would create a rise in sea levels up to 35cm over the next 30 to 70 years. The affects on Auckland will be far reaching in terms of residential development in coastal areas and valuable ecosystems within the inter-tidal zone.

Auckland city currently emits around 4,339,831 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year (roughly equivalent to the Co2 required to heat 2-2.5 million hot air balloons). Just over 40 per cent of these emissions are attributable to transportation.

Download the climate change section of Our Changing Environment 2004/2005 (115k)

Natural hazards and civil defence emergency management
Image of Rangitoto (background) and of children hiding underneath a table (inset). Due to the introduction of some new indicators, little trend information is available to assess how well we are doing in the management of natural hazards though mechanisms such as the District Plan. Significant investment has been put into better identifying the flood prone areas of the city and implementing systems which reflect our increased responsibilities in taking a regional approach on civil defence emergency management as a member of the Auckland Regional Civil Defence Emergency Management Group.

Download the natural hazards and civil defence emergency management section of Our Changing Environment 2004/2005 (705k)

Hazardous substances and contaminated land
In spite of a growth in the number of applications to establish facilities which utilise significant amounts of hazardous substances, the number of accidental spills of hazardous substances to waterways shows signs of improvement. This suggests an overall improvement in the application of environmental protection measures.

Download the hazardous substances and contaminated land section of Our Changing Environment 2004/2005 (479k)

Solid waste
In 2001, the introduction of kerbside recycling saw a significant increase in the amount of waste being diverted for recycling from the waste stream. In spite of the indicators showing the impact of these changes, it must be recognised that in recent times, waste to landfill has increased at rates in excess of population growth rates while the amount of material being collected for recycling has increased at a rate less than equivalent to population growth.

This may be a reflection of the growing unsustainability of our consumption habits and the increasing levels of packaging associated with products. Auckland City�s regular waste surveys have shown that 63 per cent of general waste that ends up in landfills from Auckland city is either compostable (47.3 per cent) or recyclable (15.7 per cent).

Download the solid waste section of Our Changing Environment 2004/2005 (85k)

Energy
Despite a general abundance of water for hydro-electric power generation and our small but growing use of solar and wind turbines, as a country we still rely on fossil fuels for 28 per cent of our electricity production and over two thirds of our total energy requirements when transportation is included.

Energy use is diverse in Auckland city. By its very nature as one of New Zealand's largest cities, there are large energy consuming activities in the key commercial and industrial areas such as the Central Business District, Mount Wellington and Penrose.

Download the energy section of Our Changing Environment 2004/2005 (259k)

Transportation
Public transport is becoming an increasingly popular way for people to get in and out of the city with train patronage growing 140 per cent between 1998 and 2001. Bus and ferry usage were also up by around 50 per cent. Due to recent increases in fuel prices and continued improvements in the public transport infrastructure, this increase in use is expected to continue and possibly even accelerate.

However, in June 2005 Auckland city still had one of the highest car ownership rates in New Zealand and the world with nine cars for every 10 people over the age of 15, compared to Wellington which had only six.

Download the transportation section of Our Changing Environment 2004/2005 (377k)

Heritage
The number of scheduled buildings, objects and places in the Auckland Isthmus has increased from 119 in 1998 to 269 at June 2005 with the largest increase occurring since 2001. There were 155 applications for additions or alterations to dwellings in residential �one� zones in the isthmus and 29 applications to modify protected items in the isthmus.

Download the heritage section of Our Changing Environment 2004/2005 (192k)

Growth and urban sustainability
There has been a significant increase in the number of inner city residential developments. Several other areas outside of the central area have also experienced significant new residential development, particularly along the western rail line, along the eastern corridor into Mount Wellington and Panmure, and in the Royal Oak, Hillsborough, Onehunga, Ellerslie, and Meadowbank areas. Parts of these areas have been identified as areas of change in Auckland City�s Growth Management strategy.

Liveable community plans have already been adopted for Avondale, Panmure, Glen Innes and Newmarket while several others including business precinct plans are currently under development.

Download the growth and urban sustainability section of Our Changing Environment 2004/2005 (707k)

References

Download the references section of Our Changing Environment 2004/2005 (35k)

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