• Demolition clears site for development
• Exceptional Xmas shopping service in Parnell
• Prepare for RWC 2011 with free workshops
• Late Night Art on February 11
• Cruise ships in port this week
• Anyone seen missing glasses?
• More events on in Parnell

Demolition clears site for development
Samson Corp project underway at Garfield Street.

Demolition of buildings at the corner of Parnell Road, Garfield Street and Bath Street has almost been completed. This will be a relief to neighbouring businesses and residents who have had to deal with an unexpectedly high level of dust during the process.

Word is that the demolition phase will be completed by next Tuesday. Hopefully requests for a more appropriate level of hosing, to keep the dust down, will be acted on for the remainder of this phase.

The large site is being prepared for a five-building commercial/ retail development designed by leading Parnell-based architect, Andrew Patterson.

Following demolition, the site will become a car parking lot for three months before construction begins, starting with excavattion for three basement car parking levels. Piles will be bored around the site's perimeter to provide support for the retaining wall to be constructed on the boundary. Pile boring is expected to take apporoximately 2 months.

Site excavation, to create basement car parking with capacity for 186 cars, will take approximately 3 months. The traffic management plan for the construction period (included in the 2005 Resource Consent Application) estimated that 12,000 cubic metres of material would be removed from the site, over a period of approximately three months. Hours of excavation will typically be 7.30am - 6pm, six days a week and involve 50 - 60 truck movements a day.

Rugby World Cup
Get Visitor Ready with free workshops

In 2011 New Zealand will be put in the spotlight internationally. Many of the key games are held in our region – a golden opportunity for Auckland and your tourism business.

Maintaining a quality visitor experience is crucial to how Auckland is viewed internationally. The number of visitors in Auckland and the extensive media coverage will be unprecedented for our region. Because this scale is something new to us all, the Visitor Ready Programme has been set up to help you be as prepared as possible.

It's estimated that over 60,000 overseas visitors will come to New Zealand for the Tournament, and many will extend their trip to enjoy a longer holiday. This is your chance to tap into a unique visitor market.

Workshops
The Visitor Market workstream's lead agency, Tourism Auckland, will launch the first stage of the Visitor Ready Programme in February and March 2010 with a series of informative workshops prepared with tourism businesses in mind.

There are six vital subject areas and each workshop will be held in three different locations in the region. We encourage tourism businesses to attend all of the workshops to better understand the opportunities provided by RWC 2011.

Not a tourism operator? Then the RWC 2011 Speaker Series might be more applicable to your business as these will be targetting broader Auckland-based businesses and will be held throughout 2010. Register on the AucklandPlus website to receive updates on 2011 opportunities including the Speaker Series.

These workshops are a regional RWC 2011 initiative funded by the councils of the region.

Workshops start in South Auckland early in February, but those in Central Auckland will be more convenient for Parnell Businesses:

Auckland - Central Workshops
Venue: The Langham, Auckland, 83 Symonds Street, Auckland

Tuesday 16 March
1030 - 1200 RWC 2011 overview
1330 - 1530 Visitor market

Tuesday 23 March
0930 - 1200 Official Travel & Hospitality Programmes and commercial restrictions
1330 - 1530 Media opportunities and communications

Tuesday 30 March
0900 - 1200 Sustainability and accessibility
1330 - 1530 How can New Zealand's unique culture add value to your business?

Full programme details visitorready.aucklandnz.com/programme.html

Late Night Art, Parnell
Parnell galleries open until 7.30, Thursday, February 11

Remember that on the second Thursday of each month, Parnell Galleries are open until 7.30pm for Late Night Art. And they're joined by a number of nearby shops.

Take visiting friends and relatives for a stroll down Parnell Road. This is a great way to enjoy a warm summer's night in Parnell - there's music in the street and a good vibe. And when you've visited the galleries, and perhaps bought something, finish the night with dinner at one of our tempting restaurants.

Details of what galleries will be showing will soon be posted at
www.parnell.net.nz/Parnell_Late_Night_Art.htm