Councillors to visit America’s Cup sites

Mayor wants cheapest plan, with bases split across three wharves

Auckland councillors will tour the proposed waterfront locations for the America’s Cup today ahead of making a decision on Thursday between the options costing up to $190 million.

Mayor Phil Goff wants to go with the cheapest option, costing $137 million, that disperses the bases across three city wharves.

This is at odds with Team New Zealand’s preference to centralise the bases on a 220m extension to Halsey Wharf covering 3ha of water space.

The Weekend Herald understands intense discussions are taking place between the council, Government and Team New Zealand to find a solution that balances the requirements and aspirations for the 36th America’s Cup, environmental impact and the costs for ratepayers and taxpayers.

Tomorrow, Goff will be back at the waterfront to tour the sites with Economic Development Minister David Parker.

Last night, a spokesman for Parker, who has been given responsibility for the America’s Cup and is Minister for the Environment, said he was keeping a close eye on the environmental impacts.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, a key speaker at a public protest against wharf extensions for port use in 2015, could not be reached yesterday to comment on wharf extensions for the America’s Cup. A senior political source told the Weekend Herald yesterday that the Halsey Wharf extension “has to be dead”.

A second source said the dispersed option on Wynyard, Halsey and Hobson wharves would create a village-type atmosphere and ensure the 2021 regatta was a huge success.

A report by Market Economic for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment claims the cup will add between $555m and $977m to the New Zealand economy.

Ngati Whatua spokesman Ngarimu Blair said the iwi had concerns with all proposals that significantly extended into the Waitemata Harbour.

“We are still considering our final position based on what little information has been made available. However, we would prefer an option that left a great legacy, while also protecting the Waitemata for future generations,” Blair said.

Stop Stealing Our Harbour spokesman Michael Goldwater has written to councillors saying hosting the America’s Cup is a great opportunity for Auckland but the plan to expand Halsey Wharf is an “ad hoc, illconceived and unimaginative concept that will not be accepted by the public”.

Urban planner and former Auckland regional councillor Dr Joel Cayford said the council’s decisionmaking process could lead to space being created for the cup and later being sold for development.

After Team New Zealand lost the cup in 2003, the public was consulted on what to do with the bases, he said. There was 77 per cent support for the land being used for public space. Instead, the land was sold to developers for a luxury hotel, Cayford said.

Councillors have been presented with five options, which could get whittled down to two next week — the dispersed option favoured by Goff, and the Halsey Wharf extension.

Two options on Captain Cook Wharf have been ruled impractical and a dispersed option for Halsey Wharf, Hobson Wharf and an extension to Westhaven Marina could also be dropped.