Auckland Council’s Draft Annual Plan includes a section on transport, outlining in broad terms the money the council intends to spend over the 2011/2012 year on transport. Overall, transport spending is the biggest section of Auckland Council’s budget – so I was quite surprised to see the lack of detail in the Draft Annual Plan on where transport spending is going. Particularly capital spending. All we see about particular projects is a list of “key projects”:
Most of the projects listed above are public transport related – surely a good thing. But, as I have noted previously that doesn’t really seem to be where the money is going. In fact, most capital spending actually seems to be on roading projects. This is shown in the table below:
It turns out that the Draft Annual Plan does actually provide more detail on individual projects. You just need to dig right to the end of the many-hundred page long document. In terms of capital spending, finally we have a list of projects proposed for funding and the amount of money they’re anticipated to cost. So what are the most expensive projects? Where will that $307m of capital spending actually go? It seems we finally have some answers – and the table below shows the name and cost of every project above $10 million:
AMETI is mentioned in the “Key Projects and Priorities” above, so is the New Lynn TOD project. I’m not quite sure what the ‘Gasometer Site Investigation and Design’ project is, while ones below that seem to generally make sense. But what about the most expensive project of all – the “Weiti Toll Road”? That sounds awfully like Penlink to me.
While I’m not the biggest fan of the Penlink project, that’s not what really concerns me here. What concerns me is the secretive way in which the project is being pushed through. The “Weiti Toll Road” project is by far the most expensive transport project Auckland Council intends to fund next year, so why was it not included in the list of key projects and priorities? Because the Council and Auckland Transport wants to seem a lot more public transport friendly than they really are? That they know Penlink is an unpopular project and want to sneak it through?
It’s a bit strange really.
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looks like the gasometer site is a large public carpark to be built on the site of a major high rise development in Takapuna, a project inherited from NSCC.
http://www.propbd.co.nz/afa.asp?idWebPage=8338&SID=958236&idBobDeyProperty_Articles=1634
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10639466
They’re seriously going to spend $32million to investigate and design a car park?! If I wanted to engage in commercial property development (which is extremely unlikely) then I’d prefer to voluntarily invest money in a property development company, rather than have the council do it compulsorily on my behalf with my rates.
And the worst thing is once the car park is built it’ll become one of the council’s treasured public assets that can never be sold.
The carpark is huge but is only part of the development, I can only guess the NSCC signed off on this and now the new council are forced to honour a contract?!?
I really wonder why the council has decided to fund this and why they’re being so secretive about it, it’s all pretty cloak and daggers if you ask me.
My guess is it something to get Penny Webster onside, she has been surprisingly positive towards Len Brown and all of his policies considering she is a former ACT party member. She also happens to be the chair of the finance committee
Yes I think Penny Webster has a lot to do with this. It is her pet project after all.
Seems like a pretty big favour if you ask me, what does the rest of the council get in exchange for giving Penny her motorway? It’s not like Len and co. need her onside, they have the numbers to govern with her out in the cold…
PennyLink as Steven Joyce apparently calls her.
I agree Josh – kind of funny that the words penlink never appear in the document at all and the biggest single piece of transport expenditure is only mentioned on page 289 of a 296 document 🙂
Maybe they did a deal? She would not openly oppose the Mayor’s rail improvements and in return they’d build her stupid road?
32 million for the Merge project in Taka. That sounds more than investigation and design that’s more like the cost of actually building thw whole thing.
gasomoters are huge gas storage tanks. Whilst a large multi-storey car park can be quite expensive, there are generally HUGE costs relating to the decommissioing an old gasometer and decontaminating of the existing ground. THe council will be required to do this prior to any develeopment taking place
The gasometer left the site years ago.