Auckland councillors have agreed to petition the Government to give them more control over transport plans
Auckland’s mayor and councillors have unanimously voted to draft legislation giving the council greater control over transport planning in the region.
It’s the latest move by a governing body of councillors and Mayor Wayne Brown who have resented what they say is central government making decisions without their involvement.
READ MORE:
* Councillors livid at Kāinga Ora directive
* Auckland Transport wants to regain the city's trust
It’s a feeling that reached flashpoint in June when a directive from Minister of Housing Megan Woods called on Kāinga Ora to investigate development options along Auckland’s potential light rail corridor.
The letter was poorly received by councillors, who labelled it a “betrayal of trust”.
Newsroom understands Brown met with Woods last week and had a constructive discussion.
Nevertheless, the councillors are aiming for more control over transport decisions currently shared between the Government and the council’s own Auckland Transport, which it has limited direct control over.
The planned local bill would create a joint transport committee between government and Auckland Council and a new Auckland regional transport committee.
Brown said there was “zero collaboration” from the Government on the second harbour crossing plans, and limited consultation on plans for light rail.
The bill would give him a prime seat at the table – the joint transport committee would be co-chaired by the Mayor of Auckland and the Minister of Transport.
“Auckland's system of planning transport is broken and in desperate need of fixing,” Brown said. “There are too many parties involved and it's not properly joined up... this is a major source of frustration for Aucklanders.”
Brown said he was currently consulting with all political parties and seeking their support. He said both government and opposition parties had expressed support for the move.
Auckland Council CCO governance and external partnerships manager Alastair Cameron said the current planning set-up was highly complex and said some could argue there was a “democratic deficit”.
“Auckland Council is the only unitary authority in New Zealand that doesn’t have members sitting around the Regional Transport Committee,” he said. “What that means is you don't really have any meaningful role other than to strike the rate – so effectively your role is to decide how much to rate people to pay for other people's decisions.”
Waitematā and Gulf councillor Mike Lee said there was an accountability issue in how Auckland Transport was currently set up.
“Elected people are accountable to the public, whereas directors, whatever their ability, are not directly accountable,” he said. “I see this as aligning Auckland back with the system of local and regional government and transport administration in the rest of this country.”
He said he hoped the move was “not for our own aggrandisement but… to be closer and a bit more accountable to the people of Auckland.”
The regional transport committees of the region were integrated in 2013 in a move spearheaded by former National minister Steven Joyce.
Since then, Auckland Transport’s board has been given the reins on transport decisions across the region.
Uncertain funding models and the mounting cost of asset renewal have seen Auckland Transport head Dean Kimpton warn the councillors several times that something needs to change.
Brown said this might be the change he was looking for:
“The Auckland Transport Board itself has acknowledged that the governance and funding arrangements for Auckland are no longer working and have asked council to give serious consideration to how a more simplified, transparent, and robust planning and funding framework for Auckland can be created,” he said. “We’ve acted on that.”
Howick councillor Maurice Williamson supported the move, but said it should be pushed to government rather than put up as a local bill.
“No harm in putting it up, running it up the flagpole and seeing who salutes it,” he said. But he said now was the time to get politicians to listen.
“You will not get more open ears from politicians than in the next two months,” he said. “They are falling over backwards to try and get people to vote for them in all regards… I think you should be taking this to them earlier and trying to get them to take a position.”
Brown said that’s exactly what he was doing.
“I’m pinning these buggers down on both sides, to make sure that they do support this,” he said. “Being leaders and supporting me and changing your mind later on is a very career limiting move.”
It was a big day for transport, with Prime Minister Chris Hipkins also announcing a raft of transport investments his government would make over the next decade.
In contrast to the sentiment behind the local bill plan, Brown was pleased with the government announcement, saying it showed the Government is listening and responding to Auckland's priorities for transport.
The transport investment programme promises Auckland centrally funded work on the northwest rapid transit corridor, an Avondale to Onehunga rail link and level crossing upgrades once the City Rail Link opens.
“The announcement today reflects quite a few of the priorities and changes that we have been discussing with the Government as part of our work on the Auckland Integrated Transport Plan, which is how we want things to work. It’s good to see the Government has taken on my board a lot of what we’ve been asking for,” Brown said.
