By BERNARD ORSMAN
Financial giant AMP is crying foul at Auckland's new Britomart project, saying noise, vibration and hundreds of truck movements a day could disrupt work on its own skyscraper going up on the waterfront.
After convincing the Auckland City Council that the public should have no say on its 34-storey tower, AMP is using the public process to oppose the council's nearby transport terminal.
The Australian-based insurer says work on its construction site is having no effect at all on the waterfront.
But the company is concerned the Britomart project could adversely disrupt work on its $171 million skyscraper and activities at two other buildings it owns in the vicinity, the Copthorne Hotel and Quay Tower.
AMP is one of 12 groups to make submissions on an application by the council to the Auckland Regional Council for resource consents to remove soil and divert groundwater during excavation of the 1.8ha Britomart site.
While there was no start date for Britomart, the AMP submission said there was bound to be an overlap with the construction of its PricewaterhouseCoopers tower, due for completion in May 2002.
AMP spokesman Paul Phillips said tenants of Quay Tower, alongside the AMP skyscraper site, were concerned about the impact of the Britomart project, about 400m away.
Tenants were worried about the effect on the waterfront of up to 400 truck movements a day at the site, he said.
AMP has hired a traffic and transport consultant to study the effects.
Mr Phillips said AMP was raising a "warning flag" to the council in the hope that both parties could reach agreement on "avoiding, remedying or mitigating" any adverse cumulative effects so that the matter did not reach the courts.
Another objector, Luis Farac, said he would be forced to close his restaurant, Cin Cin, because it was difficult enough to operate profitably, let alone with further disruption for customers reaching his premises in the old Ferry Building on Quay St.
The Novotel Hotel, on Customs St, and the Union Steamship Company, which has an interest in Union House on Quay St, also oppose the resource consent.
Auckland Mayor Christine Fletcher would not comment on the submissions yesterday because she had not received a report on the matter.
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