Shaping spaces for Aucklanders to love
Panuku Development Auckland helps to rejuvenate parts of our city – from small projects that refresh a site or building, to major transformations of town centres or neighbourhoods.
To do this it's important to understand the communities in which we work. We manage around $1.9 billion of land and buildings that Auckland Council owns, which we continuously review to find smart ways to generate income for the region, grow the portfolio or release land or properties that can be better used by others.
We identify development opportunities and plan and prepare the ground to attract private investment and make it easier for others to take on the development of houses and commercial buildings. Together with our partners we unlock the full potential of this land to create spaces for Aucklanders to love.
Auckland is facing rapid growth, and as a result of this is experiencing significant housing and infrastructure pressures. Around 800 people move to Auckland each week, and current projections suggest the population could reach 2.01 million by 2033 - an increase of more than 517,000 people within the next two decades.
To cater for this growth there is a need for a steep change in urban redevelopment and intensification of town centres and brownfields.
Panuku has the role and mandate to address this challenge.
Panuku – to move on or move forward
The demonstration that we are a progressive and inclusive organisation starts with our name: Panuku Development Auckland.
We are the first of Auckland Council’s organisations to have a name that represents what makes us unique as a New Zealand-based company: our connection to Māori culture and identity.
Our name was a long time in the making. We asked our mana whenua partners from across the region who work with us regularly on a range of different projects, what they thought we should be called.
The name would need to show dynamism, flair, innovation and fluidity, but also stability, credibility and our belief in our role as custodians of Auckland’s precious land and sea.
A number of options were presented. One name, proposed by Tame Te Rangi (Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua) resonated amongst the group immediately and strongly.
Eke Panuku, Eke Tangaroa!
This whakataukī or proverbial saying acknowledges and tributes the unseen energies from the realm of the land and sea.
These energies are often called upon through Māori oratory traditions to help invigorate, inspire and manifest success, excellence and progress within groups or for an individual.
This best describes the application of Panuku, the abbreviated form of this whakataukī that we have incorporated in our name, Panuku Development Auckland.
Our organisation, like a waka, not only requires strength to move forward, but skill to navigate, balance to ride smoothly and teamwork to propel. Working in unity, the large and heavy wooden canoe surges forward, performing beyond what one might expect when viewing its large, hulking form.
Alongside ‘Development Auckland’, the Panuku sense of momentum is anchored in the region and clearly states what our organisation is all about.
As mandated by Auckland Council:
Panuku Development Auckland will contribute to the implementation of the Auckland Plan and encourage economic development by facilitating urban redevelopment that optimises and integrates good public transport outcomes, efficient and sustainable infrastructure and quality public services and amenities. Panuku Development Auckland will manage council’s non-service property portfolio and provide strategic advice on council’s other property portfolios. It will recycle or redevelop sub-optimal or underutilised council assets and aim to achieve an overall balance of commercial and strategic outcomes.
McConnell Property is making excellent progress with civil earthworks, drainage and roads due for completion by May 2017.
