MEDIA RELEASE

from DAVID THORNTON writer & commentator on Local Government

GOVERNMENT BULLYING TACTICS ON BRITOMART FUNDING OUT OF ORDER

The threat, by 'Auckland minister' Judith Tizard, to abolish Infrastructure Auckland unless it provides full funding for Britomart is totally out of order.

Local politicians fought long and hard three years ago to ensure that the regional funds, entrusted to the new funding body, would be used to provide some of the money needed to give Greater Auckland an efficient region-wide public transport system. And IA was established with a non-political board of directors to ensure that every penny spent was totally justified.

The board of IA, after careful consideration, concluded that much of the cost of Britomart was more to do with urban renewal than providing a necessary component of the regional transport system.

Transfund New Zealand, the other major funding body, seems to have come to much the same conclusion with its decision to provide only $1O million of the $25 million requested - with a further $10 million diverted from the funds originally planned to proved fare subsidies.

For Judith Tizard to now threaten to abolish Infrastructure Auckland is a gross interference in a system which, although a little slow at times, is doing the very job it was set up to do. Carefully managing its limited resources for the benefit of the whole of Auckland.

Auckland City council has come up with a 'Rolls Royce' flagship Britomart scheme - when what is needed is a an efficient safe and reliable total public transport system. To put so many eggs into the Britomart basket would be totally irresponsible.

ENDS.

- David Thornton is a former member of the North Shore City Council and the Auckland Regional Land Transport Committee. phone 09 443 5302 mobile 025 831 825

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