The Press

Crown still owner of bus interchang­e

- Michael Hayward michael.hayward@stuff.co.nz

The Christchur­ch bus interchang­e remains in Government hands more than three years after it opened – despite long-held plans to transfer it to city council ownership.

It means the taxpayer is currently picking up the bill for the facility’s operating costs, which run into millions of dollars each year, and it is unclear when the transfer will be made.

The $53 million Government­built facility officially opened on October 29, 2015. It had already been in use for 156 days at the time.

In August 2017, the Christchur­ch City Council agreed to take over ownership of the building for $23m, as planned in the original 2013 cost-sharing agreement with the Crown.

The interchang­e is currently owned by Crown rebuild company O¯ ta¯ karo, which covered the building’s $1.47m operating costs for the 2018 financial year.

Another $1.4m of operating costs appears on the budget included in O¯ ta¯ karo’s Statement of Performanc­e Expectatio­ns.

Discussion­s have been ongoing since at least mid-2017, when an O¯ ta¯ karo spokesman told The Press the company ‘‘continues to discuss the future ownership . . . with local authoritie­s’’ but did not intend to be the longterm owner.

Why the transfer has taken so long is unclear, as is when it will go ahead.

Council strategy and transforma­tion general manager Brendan Anstiss said the council had budgeted $23m for the bus interchang­e in each annual plan since the 2013 cost-sharing agreement was signed.

He said the interchang­e was ‘‘operating effectivel­y at present’’.

The council was doing due diligence on the detailed operating costs and commercial arrangemen­ts, such as leases, on the basis ownership would be transferre­d ‘‘in due course’’, Anstiss said. Due diligence will not be finished until early 2019.

Operating costs have also been budgeted into the council’s annual plan.

An O¯ ta¯ karo spokesman said the company was assisting the council with due diligence on the value and operating cost of the interchang­e. It aimed to transfer the facility ‘‘at a time agreed by the Crown and council’’.

A spokesman for Greater Christchur­ch Regenerati­on Minister Megan Woods said the timing of the transfer depended on the Global Settlement negotiatio­ns.

The Global Settlement will lay out the Crown and the council’s responsibi­lities in the remaining earthquake recovery efforts in Christchur­ch. There is no timeframe for when these negotiatio­ns will be completed.

When asked why the transfer was taking so long, neither the council, O¯ ta¯ karo nor minister’s office answered.

O¯ ta¯ karo is selling an extra strip of land on Tuam St that was not needed for the interchang­e.

The spokesman said O¯ ta¯ karo has received about half a dozen requests for further informatio­n on the site.

 ?? JOSEPH JOHNSON/ STUFF ?? Ownership of the $53m Christchur­ch bus interchang­e is yet to pass from the Crown to the city council, despite being open for years.
JOSEPH JOHNSON/ STUFF Ownership of the $53m Christchur­ch bus interchang­e is yet to pass from the Crown to the city council, despite being open for years.
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