Rail could be funded using targeted rates

Aucklanders living near new rail lines or motorways could face rates hikes in a bid to plug the city’s transport funding gap.

Speaking to Newshub’s The Nation on Saturday, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said he would consider a targeted rate as a way to pay for major developments.

Auckland is about $6 billion short of the money needed to fund planned transport projects over the next 10 years.

‘‘That’s not a fictional hole that’s been made up for electioneering purposes, that’s an actual $6b fiscal hole,’’ Twyford told The Nation.

About $1.5b of that was expected to be met by a regional fuel tax.

As for the rest, Twyford said he wanted to be ‘‘smart’’ about raising revenue.

‘‘One of the ways that we can do it is, when you build new transport infrastructure, like light rail or even indeed a motorway, it generates massive increases in the value of the property around that infrastructure,’’ he said.

‘‘I want us to look at ways that we can capture some of that value and recycle it back into the public good.’’

Twyford told The Nation that could involve setting up an Urban Development Authority alongside any light rail lines, as well as targeted rates.

He also revealed he was considering scrapping Auckland’s Metropolitan Urban Limit in a bid to bring down costs on building new homes.

‘‘This city is going to have to grow up and out.’’

Twyford also told The Nation he had asked for the business case information on Penlink, a proposed toll road between the Whangaparaoa Peninsula and State Highway 1 in Auckland’s north.

‘‘We’re not saying we’re not going to do anything – that’s a vital freight corridor – but we just don’t believe the [previous] government’s $2b project stacked up,’’ Twyford said.

Rolling out light rail along major Auckland arterial routes is something the new Labourled coalition Government has promised to deliver on.

Auckland Council controlled organisation Auckland Transport is currently investigating light rail routes from Auckland waterfront’s Wynyard Quarter along both Manukau Rd and Dominion Rd to Auckland Airport.

Labour’s election manifesto also included installing light rail from the CBD to west Auckland’s Westgate within 10 years.