Time to focus on the real Auckland issues

The challenges facing the new Auckland Council are huge, with the pending population explosion the largest single issue hanging over Aucklanders’ heads.

In February, Statistics New Zealand projected the Auckland region will be home to two million people by 2031 – that’s 570,000 more Aucklanders. That is the equivalent of adding the entire population of the Wellington region and Dunedin City to Auckland in the next 21 years.

What’s more Auckland will be home to 320,000 people over 65 years of age by 2031. Forty thousand of them will be over 85. Auckland needs to be a city that’s affordable and accessible to our senior citizens as well as a great place for business, families, young people, and migrants.

Alarmingly there is no agreed single plan as to how the region will work, look or feel in the future. The new Auckland Council will provide the first real opportunity to do just that.

Soon after being sworn in on 1 November the Mayor and 20 councillors must begin the public consultation and drive the long-term vision as to what the unified Auckland region should and could look like.

Over the next three months a number of promises will be made from both sides of the political divide. Already there seems to be consensus on a number of massive infrastructural projects such as an underground inner-city rail loop, a rail line to the airport, a national convention centre, and a tunnel under the Waitamata Harbour.

With a population explosion imminent these projects seem worthy but big questions remain around funding.

With Auckland’s all-powerful single unitary authority, rest assured Wellington won’t be coming to the party as much. As the Minister of Transport has already indicated, if Aucklanders really want certain projects, they will have to contribute.

The new Auckland Council may oversee $30 billion worth of public assets but its rates revenue will be just over $1 billion – not a lot when you consider Auckland is now home to 1.4 million people. That’s less than $1,000 for the council to spend on every man, woman and child each year. You’re down to about half that when you consider the transport council-controlled organisation will soak up over 50% of rates.

Auckland is not going to be able fund huge infrastructural capital projects for its exploding population through property taxes.

The Auckland Council will strongly argue that the much-talked about second harbour crossing, likely to be a tunnel near the existing bridge, is a road of national significance and should be funded by government.

Best estimates at this stage put such a harbour tunnel in excess of $4 billion. It would be a very hard sell for the Government to fund it outright via taxpayers, so expect it to be tolled and expect a big contribution from the region’s ratepayers.

A rapid rail link to and from the Auckland International Airport would be a good look, but this has been costed at around $1 billion. Again, can you imagine the taxpayers of Southland wanting to contribute to this?

The prospect of an underground CBD rail loop from Britomart to meet the western line near the existing Mt Eden rail platform is a great idea but the cost is huge and the uphill geography challenging. The tunnel would go under and up Albert Street, Pitt Street, Karangahape Road, Spaghetti Junction and the top Symonds Street, to come out near Eden Terrace. This project has a price tag in excess of $1.5 billion and it is not a priority for the Government. If Aucklanders want it they’ll need to dig deep themselves.

A national convention and exhibition centre would also require a major Auckland contribution.

How is Auckland going to pay for all these projects – not to mention finance its debt? Let’s not forget the Auckland Council will inherit from the eight councils a combined debt of $3 billion.

Over the past year Auckland City Council, and Waitakere and Manukau Cities have sold retail bonds to mum and dad Aucklanders and investors. Expect to see more of that.

With an asset portfolio of around $30 billion and a great credit rating, the Auckland Council would not only be a safe place to invest money, via the likes of retail and infrastructure bonds, but the council will be well positioned to borrow money. User-pays will also become more commonplace.

Expect to see more public-private partnerships – the airport rail service would be a perfect PPP. Expect to see more toll roads, like the one now bypassing Orewa. We may even see congestion charging, akin to the model in Central London, being talked about again. The debate about charging the city’s hotels a bed tax to support infrastructure could also re-appear on the agenda.

Surveys have long showed that that traffic congestion is Auckland’s number one issue. Surveys have also showed that if there was a quicker alternative most Aucklanders would be happy to pay for it.

With Auckland relatively thinly spread from Pukekohe to Wellsford upgrading infrastructure will be costly but at the same time the enormous challenges are exciting. We should embrace Auckland’s imminent population explosion, not bury our heads.

We need to put the “super city” fights behind us. This is the first chance we’ve had in Auckland to move forward as a single entity. Let’s start planning, let’s do the costing, let’s see who’s prepared to pay for what, and let’s show some real can-do.

Cameron Brewer is chief executive of the Newmarket Business Association. He is also a board member of Towns & Cities New Zealand.

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