AT looks to penalise late works

Auckland Transport is looking at a bylaw change to give it greater powers to penalise private companies who don’t finish construction projects on time in an effort to relieve city traffic.

AT’s general manager of networks, Mark Lambert, told Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye the agency was looking to place greater scrutiny on overschedule private developments.

Lambert said most construction in Auckland CBD is not council or government public works, saying up to 70 per cent of the construction clutter is because of private developments.

“However all works applications on the network happen through Corridor Access Requests to AT. We are looking at opportunities for regulatory change to enable greater enforcement of delays to third-party works programmes.”

AT media manager Mark Hannah clarified to the Herald on Sunday this week laws do not “incentivise compliance” for private works to finish on time.

“Auckland Transport is doing a review of our regulatory powers to see if we need more enforcement powers. We are looking at whether we need a new transport bylaw to make it easier to penalise private companies who do not stick to their works programme. We are also looking at whether we need to go to the government for more help in this area. We are talking about any developer who potentially impacts the transport network.”

AT has come under increasing pressure for congestion in the CBD this year, as 63 roadworks will disrupt central city streets.

National’s Kaye said she thought it was a “good sign” AT was looking at policy changes around penalising late, disruptive private construction in the CBD.

“Obviously we need to see the detail, but it’s pretty reasonable for agencies to be able to ensure developments are happening on time, because of the flow-on effect for the rest of the city.

“The temptation has been to assume congestion is only the result of public projects but if we are to get serious about ensuring traffic flows well through the city, then we need to make sure public and private works are held to a high standard.”