Standalone Transport Authorities For Auckland And Wellington

The Wellington Region should join with the Auckland mayors in asking for a new standalone transport authority said a member of the Wellington Regional Land Transport Committee.

Porirua City Councillor Robert Shaw said Wellington, like Auckland, needed a single transport authority to plan, build, maintain, and manage the roads.

"The new Transport legislation continues the same approach as before, which means central government agencies hold all the power.

This approach has been proven useless in both Auckland and Wellington, and it is difficult to see how anyone can hold a realistic hope that it will now work.

The projects we plan for our region are not done, and other projects are advanced.

What is the point of planning if central government agencies can second guess you.

Millions of dollars are wasted in plans that are never implemented.

Auckland Mayoral Forum Chair and Mayor of Rodney District, John Law, has it right when he calls for a new Auckland authority.

It is proper that such an authority be funded from Auckland sources, and that Wellington people pay for the development of Wellington.

The aims of the Auckland strategy are quite different from the aims set out in the Wellington strategy, but we have both been frustrated by Transit NZ and Transfund having their own priorities.

In Wellington we want our roads to complement public transport and to advance the region economically and socially. In Auckland the focus is on road congestion.

The new Transport Act makes things worse by adding new criteria for decision-making and thereby making it impossible to focus on, and achieve, a strategic goal.

The Act also adds a large measure of ideology which will work against rational decision-making."

Mayor Law says the Auckland Mayor's Forum has asked the region's chief executives to come up with a more detailed proposal on a new body that will be discussed with local councils.

Like Auckland we should consider the same issues and form a Wellington proposal in consolation with Auckland councils.

I will ask that this matter be considered by the Wellington Regional Land Transport Committee as soon as possible and note that Auckland plans to make progress within a week, Cr Shaw added.

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