Latest / Best of Business / Viv Beck: Heart of the City CEO on the closure of Auckland's Smith & Caughey's

Transcript

Viv Beck: Heart of the City CEO on the closure of Auckland's Smith & Caughey's · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talk zed B.
• 0:12
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• 0:16
  Speaker 2: You want to see a story of how to record place,
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  Speaker 2: try downtown Auckland after one hundred and forty five years.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: We got confirmation last night. The Smith and Coe's can't
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: do it anymore. Economic hardship, CBD safety, roade, cones, homeless
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: parking pack, anyone you want. If you've ever seen a
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: council try to record joint, this is it. The store
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: will officially close by the end of July. Vibeca is
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: the heart of the city boss of course, and she
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: is with us. Good morning to you, Good morning. Was
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: it always coming post the initial announcement or not?
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: Well, we hope they'd be able to get through to
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: the opening of the CRL and we have absolutely laid
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: it out clear as day to both Auckland Counts and
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: on Auckland Transport what they needed to do to reduce
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: the barriers to get into the central city. And I
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: think the lack of action is inexcusable.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: I know you don't like me saying this, but I've
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  Speaker 2: been to this. I go to the city, it's a dump.
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  Speaker 2: I wouldn't go to Smith and Coe. Why would it
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  Speaker 2: bother with the homeless, the cones, the signs, the finds
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: that you can't get there, it's just ruined. It's wrecked.
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: Well on the moment, obviously, that's that's a good call.
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: I mean, you know, the reality is, we know the
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: things that need to change. There are some fantastic things
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: here and we've just had you know, thousands of people
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: for the Writer's Festival, but there are fundamental flaws in
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: the way this is being managed and it has to stop.
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: The reality is has been an obsession with getting cars out.
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: We've already lost forty four percent of them. So it's
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: twenty fifteen, and yet Auckland Transport seems to think finding
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: people in our nighttime district in Queen Street is acceptable.
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: The reality is the ideology has to be replaced by
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: common sense, economic viability, operational functionality and has to meet
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: Auckland as realistic transport needs. I've got a whole other
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: story to talk about another day about the safe and
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: what we're trying to get counsel to do on that.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: Not just counsel, but there is more they can do,
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: and we determined to keep on at that, but the
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: reality is we've got so much good stuff and it
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: is a positive future. The City rail Link will make
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: access easier, but we cannot tolerate this behavior anymore. It
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: has to stop.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Well see appreciate it, Beck, Heart of the City. Probably
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  Speaker 2: the toughest job in New Zealand outside being the Finance Minister.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: But that's one hundred and forty five years of history
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  Speaker 2: just done. And that's the Upland Council for you. That's
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: how useless they are.
• 2:39
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