Media Release 21 September 2011

Auckland Plan is recipe for revolt.

The Auckland Plan should send shudders down the spines of Auckland ratepayers – it is a rainbow of dreams but without a pot of gold at the end.

It proposes spending billions of additional dollars at a time when the council is falling behind in upgrading essential expenditure on existing infrastructure particularly stormwater and wastewater which are priority ingredients of any liveable city

For the next few years council staff and expensive consultants will beaver away on feasibility studies, scoping studies, design studies – then produce glossy brochures, hold exhibitions of their work to seek public input, then off on overseas jaunts to look at ‘international trends’ to make sure Auckland has the very best of everything.

And the tens of millions of dollars spent on all of that will be funded from rates.

Yet none of that expenditure will be of any direct benefit to the ratepayers who will pay.

Far from the new Auckland Council bringing cost savings, this new plan follows the pattern of all previous councils – spend a fortune on planning without any idea of how new projects are to be funded.

Mayor Brown suggests funding from road tolls, congestion charges, government grants, public/private partnerships, but fails to identify how much will be raised from each of these sources.

The Plan gives costs estimates which are meaningless without adequate and identified funding sources allocated to each project.

Prime Minister John Key has made it clear that, while central government (the taxpayer), will probably make contributions to the cost of implementing parts the Auckland Plan, Auckland itself must expect to meet most of the costs.

This means the Auckland Council will need to fund much of the cost of the Mayor’s grand scheme.

Inevitably huge borrowing will be needed – and that is the greatest threat to ratepayers, because all loans are essentially underwritten by the council’s almost unrestrained ability to levy rates at a level it decides is necessary.

The inevitability of huge rates increases is already becoming apparent.

That threat could easily translate into ratepayer revolt if the council continues down this path of unfunded visions with spiralling expenditure.

Ends.

© Scoop Media