Up to council, Goff says on ports’ future
Mayor favours moving the facilities and keeping the land for Aucklanders’ use
AHuckland mayor Phil Goff says any decision on the future of Ports of Auckland is for Auckland Council to make but he favours a relocation and believes splitting the port company from the land makes sense.
Goff told RNZ’s Checkpoint he had long advocated for the port to move to free up the 77ha inner-city area and the Firth of Thames was the most realistic option. But any move would likely be at least 20 years away.
Asked about the possibility of selling off the land or the company, he said it was up to the whole council to make such decisions and he would seek a confidential briefing for council from Ports of Auckland.
“Where we reach agreement is that they see value in separating the port into an operating company and a land company.”
He said that would make sense if the port did relocate. “If the Ports decide to relocate out of Auckland, I’m not going to have the ports sell off the land to the highest commercial bidder in order to relocate, because that won’t guarantee the cultural, environmental or social outcomes I want for Auckland.” He said there would be a better return for citizens in using the land for something else.
Prime Minister Bill English said he was pleased to see the council was looking seriously at what it had to do to fund its share of the city infrastructure.
“We are yet to see just what the council is going to do, but I think people now are much more interested in getting some real solutions and are less interested in political arguments about how they might happen. We need the houses built and we need the infrastructure for it.” He effectively ruled out any further government assistance, such as more funding or a loan for the council, saying the Government was
I’m not going to have the ports sell off the land to the highest commercial bidder. Phil Goff, Auckland mayor
already paying billions of dollars and the council had to fund its share itself.
Labour’s Auckland spokesman, Phil Twyford, said Labour would “strongly oppose” any attempt to sell off the port, saying the short-term gain was outweighed by the longer-term interest in retaining the port and developing a strategy for the upper North Island ports.
“National has blocked every request Auckland Council has made for new sources of revenue to invest in desperately needed infrastructure, including road pricing and a regional fuel tax. And now the usual cheerleaders for privatisation are telling the council to flog off the port company to fund the infrastructure deficit.” But English was unapologetic.
“We are helping right now, but in the long run they are going to need to be able to fund it.” For the latest updates on this story go to nzherald.co.nz