National slams survey on harbour crossing
National Party transport spokesperson Simeon Brown says the Government is asking questions it already has the answer to, as it launches a new study into the Auckland harbour crossings.
Brown estimated he had seen 10 different official reports and consultation documents about how to build a second Auckland harbour crossing over the past 15 years.
He slammed the latest government-commissioned research project, as ‘‘just another Survey Monkey’’ that won’t gather meaningful insights.
One of the most recent reports into the harbour crossings came out in May, 2021, from Auckland Transport (AT). Its report, analysing the feedback of 5817 Aucklanders about transport in the region, discussed opinions on a proposed second Waitematā harbour crossing and the preferences for what modes of transport it should cater to.
About 18 months later, Transport Minister Michael Wood announced another round of public consultation to discuss the decades-old idea to build more harbour crossings.
On Sunday, Wood held a press conference to ask Aucklanders to share their opinions on how new harbour crossings could work.
Launching a new public survey and announcing a series of public consultation events, Wood said the Government was ready to invest in infrastructure which previous governments had failed to do.
‘‘Where previous governments failed to plan for the long term, we are committed to preparing for and safeguarding our country’s economic future.’’
Former transport minister Simon Bridges said he had received similar reports to what Woods was asking for.
In his new job, heading to Auckland Chamber of Commerce, he said it was vital that work to build a second harbour crossing gets under way.
He said there needed to be considered analysis of how to fund the project. But he said there was already a general understanding that another crossing was needed.
A previous report, released by Bridges as minister of transport in 2015, said Auckland’s growth meant a new harbour crossing would be needed before 2030.
At the time, tunnelling under the harbour was expected to cost about $4 billion. The price tag was expected to have risen by billions since then.
The most recent survey was part of an NZTA and Auckland Council project unit investigating Waitematā Harbour Connections.
It was expected to deliver a recommendation in the second half of next year.