Councillors’ call on Mayor to demand the Port takes a cuppa tea

Following today’s monthly Governing Body meeting it’s clear the majority of Auckland councillors now want Auckland Mayor Len Brown to show some swift leadership on issues around the Ports of Auckland’s plans to extend Bledisloe Wharf as well as addressing the wider rules around future reclamation, says Auckland Councillor for Orakei Cameron Brewer.

“The Mayor thinks spending money on some explanatory PR, establishing some community engagement group, and committing to prioritising a Ports Study report should be enough to appease Aucklanders. But everyone else knows that will only make people angrier.

“Along with others today I encouraged the Mayor to insist the Port takes a cuppa of tea on any imminent construction. Councillors disagreed on how long for, but nonetheless the Port now needs to show some good faith with the public and quickly. As a 100% publicly owned company, they can’t keep soldiering on insisting on building significant wharf extensions and not be prepared to take a deep breath and listen.

“The Port now needs to put up the white flag. The promise of more meetings, more PR, more committees and more reports won’t wash, but alarmingly that is the Mayor’s latest solution.

“I also raised the need for the council to firm up its position in the Unitary Plan process over future planning provisions inside the port zone. The excuse that mediation is supposedly over and we now just have to wait for the Independent Hearings Panel to deliver its recommendations next year is also not good enough. The Port itself has said it is happy to relook at the future reclamation rules, so why wouldn’t we now actively take up that opportunity and not just wait in hope.

“The Mayor needs to call for both parties to re-mediate the long-term planning provisions of the port zone as well as demand a cuppa tea over the imminent Bledisloe Wharf extensions. That was the message the Mayor was given loud and clear today,” says Cameron Brewer.

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