Auckand’s council-owned port company said the releasing of a plan by mayor Wayne Brown for it to be gone by 2040 was “unexpected” and appeared to pre-determine the outcome of work still to be done.
Brown wants port operations to end over a 15-year period, clearing Captain Cook and part of Bledisloe Wharf by December 2024, moving east, ending with the closure of the Fergusson Container Terminal by December 2039.
“It appears Mayor Brown has predetermined the outcomes of the joint study which Minister Wood and the Mayor announced only last Friday,” said Jan Dawson, the chair of Ports of Auckland.
The mayor has moved on the port’s future just days after council and government agreed to work together on one, comprehensive plan, including transport projects and the port’s possible relocation.
Dawson said the board would meet on Wednesday to consider the issues and outcomes raised by the Mayor in his Monday media release.
”The potential impact his statement may have on the port staff wellbeing, the port’s long term value, its ability to return a dividend to Aucklanders and how the port’s customers will respond,” would all be considered said Dawson.
“Ports of Auckland is not reluctant to return waterfront land to Aucklanders. Over the last 25 years we have returned 117ha to Auckland Council. Much of that land is still yet to be developed by Council,” she said.
Dawson said the board looks forward to: “a reasoned and considered discussion with the full council and the Minister of Transport’s office on the future of the Ports of Auckland over the coming months.”
The port company’s statement shows tension remains high between itself and the mayor’s office.
Brown wants a council-led process to start early next year, including its urban regeneration arm Eke Panuku and provide signals to the government and private sector about future investment needs.
“No one should doubt that change is coming to how Auckland uses its waterfront land,” said Brown in a statement, which also proposed a new cruise terminal, and facilities for coastal shipping.https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2022/homepagepointers/nebula/hppointer/yourauckland.html
The government was aware of Brown’s timeline when it agreed last week to work closely with council on the future of the port.
Brown’s statement also signals a warming of his relationship with Eke Panuku, which is being given the job of master-planning new uses for the prime waterfront site as the 77 hectares is progressively released.
“No one disputes [Eke Panuku] did a very good job with Wynyard Quarter,” the mayor said.
“I am recommending to the Governing Body that it be given the job of doing even better with the port land, to deliver to Auckland by 2039 the most beautiful and loved publicly owned waterfront of any harbour city in the world.”
“The waterfront has been an important part of our mahi for many years and we look forward to working very closely with the council group on this next step”, a statement from Eke Panuku, whose board of directors Brown has called on to resign, said.
Brown has long advocated an early shift of the port away from Auckland’s waterfront, and in 2019 chaired a New Zealand First-driven study which recommended Northport near Marsden Point take much of the trade.
The then mayor of Auckland Phil Goff dismissed the findings, and the government has previously talked of identifying a new location for the port traffic before next year’s general election.
The level of detail in Brown’s plan has not been shared yet with councillors, who meet on Thursday to sign off his 2023 Budget proposal, and Letters of Expectations to council agencies.