Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Major infrastructure partnership for North Auckland

Hon Phil Twyford

Minister for Housing and Urban Development


Phil Goff


Mayor of Auckland

13 November 2018

MEDIA STATEMENT

Minister of Housing and Urban Development Phil Twyford and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff today announced a partnership that will fund $91 million of roading and wastewater infrastructure to support the building of 9000 homes at Wainui, north of Auckland.

The Government Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) has been created in partnership with Auckland Council, Crown Infrastructure Partners and Fulton Hogan Land Development.

Phil Twyford said the Milldale project demonstrates an approach to funding that allows private investment in new infrastructure with the debt sitting on a balance sheet that is neither the Council’s or the Government’s.

“The Milldale project is an example of the innovative new approaches to financing infrastructure that the Government is developing through the Urban Growth Agenda. This funding model can be used in other high growth areas affected by the housing crisis to help more houses to be built more quickly.

“This could include private investment in infrastructure funded by a charge on the properties that benefit from the infrastructure.

“This new infrastructure funding model will result in a large number of homes being built much sooner than otherwise would have been the case.

“One of the major road blocks to our towns and cities growing is the lack of ready access to finance for the infrastructure that allows for new urban growth, for green or brownfields developments,” Phil Twyford said.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

Phil Goff said Milldale will be a great place for Aucklanders keen to live in a new modern eco-friendly environment connected to the rapid transport network.

“A key priority for us in Auckland is to address the shortage and unaffordability of houses in our city,” Phil Goff said.

“We’ve zoned much more land for housing, but we need the infrastructure before we can build on it.

“Using Crown Infrastructure Partners to fund that infrastructure enables us to build roads, water and wastewater services without overburdening Council with debt and exceeding our debt to revenue ratio.

“We can build more homes sooner and tackle the housing crisis quicker than would otherwise have been possible.

“This Project enables nearly 4,000 new dwellings in Milldale and the infrastructure can support another 5,000 dwellings in the surrounding areas as well. It’s a big step towards meeting Auckland’s housing needs,” Phil Goff said.

Fulton Hogan Land Development has already started work on the Milldale development at Wainui, which will have nearly 4,000 homes and businesses. The infrastructure being funded will support the Milldale development and will also enable another 5,000 homes to be built nearby, with $33.5 million funding for this being provided by Auckland Council.

Crown Infrastructure Partners has secured long-term fixed-rate debt from Accident Compensation Corporation. The SPV will be funding $48.9 million towards the infrastructure, with the Crown contributing less than $4 million.

The SPV funding will be repaid over time partly by Fulton Hogan Land Development and partly by section owners as an ‘infrastructure payment’ collected with Council rates bills. This new model of infrastructure financing means that long term debt can be raised through the SPV to enable the building of large scale infrastructure, which is needed to step up the rate houses being built, and to assist Councils who are nearing their debt limits.

The Milldale development will be a modern, contained urban development with green spaces and parks, a town centre, cycleways and walkways, and potentially education facilities, and will be connected to the Northern busway.

Fulton Hogan Land Development in conjunction with a joint venture partner has previously developed Millwater, on the eastern side of the northern motorway and sees Milldale as the next evolution of this urban development.


Note to editors:

The infrastructure includes a new arterial road and bridge connecting Wainui Road to the Silverdale Interchange and Dairy Flat Highway, intersection upgrades, a roading extension and bridge to Highgate Parkway on the eastern side of the motorway, and wastewater tunnels.

Construction on the infrastructure has already commenced (the wastewater tunnel) with the first residential sections to be released in the early new year.

The infrastructure funding and financing pillar of the Urban Growth Agenda will enable responsive infrastructure provision and appropriate cost allocation, including the use of project financing and access to financial capital. It aims to reform infrastructure funding and financing through:
Providing a broader range of tools and mechanisms to enable net beneficial bulk and distribution infrastructure to be funded;
Rebalancing development risk from local authorities to the development sector; and
Making long term debt finance available to developers willing to take on the commercial risk, with the debt serviced by revenue from the new properties in a development.


ends

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On Dune 2, And Images Of Islam


Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn.
Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.