9 December 2014

Move to work with Govt on their 2020 start date for City Rail Link lost

Auckland Councillors Denise Krum, Cameron Brewer and Linda Cooper say they’re disappointed a more prudent City Rail Link amendment put by Ms Krum and seconded by Mr Brewer was resoundingly lost today by 17 votes to three.

The council met today to dial back their recently proposed project start date of 2015/16 to instead starting the main works from 2018/19 following concerns raised by the Auditor-General. This overall revised approach was in the end supported 14 votes to six.

The three councillors support Auckland Council doing the enabling works over the next three years, but pushed to work with the Government on their preferred start date of 2020 for the main works and potentially bringing it forward if the Government stumped up the money.

Denise Krum: “I’m very disappointed this amendment didn’t attract support. It backs the project, proceeds with the enabling works, strives for an earlier start date, and tries to squeeze more money out of Government. It ticks all the boxes but sadly it was lost. This amendment was a genuine attempt to provide greater protection to Auckland ratepayers, while positively and realistically advancing the project. We now run the risk of appearing to mislead ratepayers on assumptions we simply shouldn’t be making.

Cameron Brewer: “The Auditor General has long pushed for greater certainty and more information around this massive project, but 2018/19 at best remains a complete stab in the dark but that’s what council will now formally consult on as its preferred option. Putting 2020 in the draft Long Term Plan would have been more appropriate given that’s the only absolute guarantee council has from Wellington. Starting from 2015/16 and putting in $854m for the next three years alone was always outrageous, the Auditor General dismissed it, yet it will still appear as an option in the public consultation which is completely inappropriate given it could never be delivered. But the Mayor is seemingly using it to rally the troops.

Linda Cooper: “2020 was a much more prudent approach. We should be working with Wellington, and not use the Long Term Plan as a political bargaining tool. It was never intended to be that. Rather it should accurately reflect the best information we have at the time, and in this instance 2020 is all we have from Government. Until they change their mind we should work with them and that date in good faith. Anything else is pure speculation and I just don’t want the Auditor General to come back to council again. However if the Government was to agree to an earlier start, I would be on board in a heartbeat.”

The lost amendment below:

That the Governing Body:

a) approve the financial data for the Long-Term Plan 2015-2025 being updated to reflect the City Rail Link Option 4 scenario of:

• i) council proceeding with investigation and design, land purchases and enablement works for the next three years (total $400 million)

• ii) construction on main works commencing in 2020/21, commensurate with government funding, and after a binding funding agreement has been concluded.

b) support continued negotiations with government to achieve an earlier start date for main works construction and a minimum 50% contribution by government to the entire cost of the City Rail Link project, including the cost of investigation and design, land purchases and enablement works to be incurred by Auckland Council over the next three years of the Long-Term Plan 2015-2025

c) delegate authority for these negotiations to both the political and executive level.

ENDS

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