Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 7h

💯

morgan godfery @morgangodfery.bsky.social · 7h

urbanists are 100% correct on their one Thing but have the worst opinions and the most off putting manner on literally every other thing

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Reposted by Ben Ross

Pippa Coom @pippacoom.bsky.social · 8h

This is really great news. City Vision (Labour, Greens & independents) has flipped two local boards. This is a win for progressive policies. Communities want climate action, street improvements, safe speeds and bike lanes

City Vision @cityvision.bsky.social · 8h

The preliminary result is now out. We're really delighted to have secured the majority on the Albert-Eden Local Board with the election of Michelle Thorp
voteauckland.co.nz/en/2025-loca...

Local board member results | Vote Auckland

Local board member results for the 2025 local elections.

voteauckland.co.nz

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Reposted by Ben Ross

Joe Patrice @joepatrice.bsky.social · 21h

Amazing

Tweet: @vexwerewolf
Right-wingers literally straight-up admitting "it's harder to discredit the left because the left is almost always telling the truth"
Scott Jennings @Lum 21h um, yes, that's really a problem
Show this thread
9 paints • 12 hrs
The problem with left-leaning media is they're intrinsically more strict with their propaganda to only using verifiable sources so it's really hard to poke holes in their ideology and arguments in comparison to a lot of low quality rightwing content.
That makes attacking their points with fact checkers not very effective unless the fact checkers use misinformation tactics as well.
In essence people on the right have to work harder and more creatively to push their agendas as statistics and studies frustratingly arent usually on our side.

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 9h

Just follow the 10 principles of sustainable urban transport by TUMI and you are mostly there

10 principles of sustainable urban transport
TUMI

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 9h

Tick tock

Foxy @foxylustygrover.bsky.social · 10h

And so it begins! #NZPol

1/2

NZ First joins Labour and the Greens in raising alarm over Gene Tech Bill
Glenn McConnell
Glenn McConnell

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 10h

yep 💯

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 10h

GENERAL S.T.R.I.K.E

Kurt M @kiwikurt.bsky.social · 10h

About 1500+ Air New Zealand pilots are union members, not to mention hundreds of Engineer and thousands more flight attendants. Most of whom do not have favourable feelings towards our current PM

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 10h

Record Migration to Australia continues
And that will certainly freeze any confidence in the September GDP figures
10,000 away from Negative Population Growth
www.nzherald.co.nz/business/mig...

Migration slump deepens as record numbers of Kiwis head overseas

Annual net migration has fallen again as fewer migrants arrived in the year to August.

www.nzherald.co.nz

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 11h

Team restructure to get under way

bsky.app/profile/bena...

Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 11h

It is the Team restructure which we knew about at the beginning of the year

Fun times!

Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 11h

And now the GM is going to do an announcement about the Department

.....

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 11h

It is the Team restructure which we knew about at the beginning of the year

Fun times!

Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 11h

And now the GM is going to do an announcement about the Department

.....

Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 16h

Speaking of which, seems my job/role that was to be disestablished got 180ed by the GM.

Ill be staying around to bring through the Planning Act and Standardised Zones

Meantime I am off to join our Consents team to go learn some tricks and tips while assisting them for the next few months

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 11h

I was going to set up for #CitiesSkylines recordings

That might be on hold until tomorrow

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 11h

And now the GM is going to do an announcement about the Department

.....

Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 16h

Speaking of which, seems my job/role that was to be disestablished got 180ed by the GM.

Ill be staying around to bring through the Planning Act and Standardised Zones

Meantime I am off to join our Consents team to go learn some tricks and tips while assisting them for the next few months

Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 17h

Ironically I have had that discussion around the Frankie coffee machine at work and the results were suprising

The Planning Act and Natural Environment Act are going to lead to Councils being merged or culled given how it will work
Example Waikato District cut in 1/2
1/2 to Auckland
1/2 to Hamilton

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Reposted by Ben Ross

Paul Brislen @brislen.nz · 12h

I have heard this repeatedly, particularly among the "we must stop Wikipedia being so left wing" brigade.

Joe Patrice @joepatrice.bsky.social · 21h

Amazing

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Reposted by Ben Ross

Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 2d

A reminder hard engineering will then always fail as it did

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Reposted by Ben Ross

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 1d

ICYMI: “Some still insist ‘downtowns will never attract kids & shouldn’t try.’ Then they design downtown to virtually repel kids, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Vancouver proves the opposite can be true...”

I’m quoted in this article by @johnlorinc.bsky.social for @calcities.bsky.social

People want to have kids and live downtown. Can they? - Western City Magazine

For decades, planners focused on attracting young singles to dense urban cores. That dynamic has shifted, in part because ...

www.westerncity.com

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 15h

Nice 👇

Qagggy! @qagggy.bsky.social · 1d

Some of the urbanism happening in New York City…is stunning.

Broadway between Union Square and the Flatiron.

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 16h

Large Arterial Roads Are NOT Great for Residential Building, Wayne Brown!

Comment from Mayor as Auckland continues to intensify earns a caution! Local elections have concluded, and Wayne Brown will continue as Mayor for another term, with Cr. Richard Hills returning as Chair of the Planning…

Large Arterial Roads Are NOT Great for Residential Building, Wayne Brown!

Comment from Mayor as Auckland continues to intensify earns a caution! Local elections have concluded, and Wayne Brown will continue as Mayor for another term, with Cr. Richard Hills returning as Chair of the Planning Committee. This brings stability and continuity to Auckland as we navigate PC120 and the final stages of the Planning Reforms. A comment from the Mayor regarding intensifying residential development along major road arterials has drawn significant attention, particularly from North America.

voakl.net

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 16h

It is all they can do

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 16h

Resident Dunce is too thick to see reflection in the mirror

RNZ News Feeds @rnzrss.bsky.social · 16h

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blames unions for ongoing strike action

"I think people are getting sick of unions prioritising the politics over patients," the Prime Minister says.

www.rnz.co.nz

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 16h

:-)

Housing situation is still a bit fragile as we still feel the affects of Willis cancelling IREX

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Reposted by Ben Ross

Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 2d

Urban resilience
What is it and what do we need to do
What we have done from 1950 onwards no longer works (it actually never worked)
So time to get back to what is actually the basics!
Work together rather than dominate

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 16h

That said the two ACT Local candidates who did get in to Council seats in the South Island had more a clue on how Local Government works than most other candidates did combined

Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 16h

The Far Right are so fucking useless at anything

Apart from making everything dangerous for everuone else

Russel Norman @russelnorman.bsky.social · 16h

One of the Govt's top priorities www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

After 5 months of the heralded ‘tipline’, just 204 road cones are confirmed gone

In Whanganui, information from the Government’s own Road Cone Tipline had actually led to more cones being put out than taken away. In Wellington, 110 complaints resulted in just two cones being remov...

www.stuff.co.nz

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 16h

In the end yes
But elected reps need to be brought up to speed on how it actually works

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 16h

Ironically Wayne despite being an engineer and rather blunt, is able to string two words to form a sentence together AND actually move things forward

Unlike Luxon and NACT1

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