24 September 2004

Statement from David Thornton

ARC Has Started Frittering Away Capital Funds Received From Infrastructure Auckland.

While the media appears pre-occupied with the Auckland City mayoralty battle the Auckland Regional Council has started quietly siphoning off funds it has recently acquired from Infrastructure Auckland.

The ARC finance committee yesterday voted to use $7m from those funds to help prepare more plans for stormwater management - plans only, no actual work.

The ARC's first LTCCP [Long Term Council Community Plan] indicates that between $4m -$8m each year will be needed for this programme.

The money also includes over $1.1million to employ another 'communications' person.

This sort of activity, if really needed, is an operational matter and should be paid out of rates income - which last year showed a surplus above requirements of over $13million.

The Infrastructure Auckland funds have been transferred to a new ARC subsidiary Auckland Regional Holding (ARH) - and were originally intended to be used for capital projects.

Having controlled these funds for less than 3 months the ARC is already diverting the funds to cover day to day operating costs.

The ARC must not be allowed to fritter away the valuable assets owned by the ratepayers of the region.

ENDS

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