Northport capacity ignored: Chairman

Northport can handle more cargo.

Northport wants to talk with the next Auckland Council about whether it can take some of the cargo heading to Ports of Auckland.

Auckland Council's development committee last week voted to refer the findings of the Port Future Study to the new council elected in October.

The study found that a new location was likely to be needed for the Auckland port which is facing growth constraints but in the interim there was a need to allow it to build extra berth space despite public opposition to further extensions into the Waitemata Harbour.

The study also said that Northport and Port of Tauranga were unable to handle the extra trade from Ports of Auckland and giving up parts of its business to other ports would mean a loss of revenue to the council. It found that in the long-term the port may relocate to Manukau Harbour or the Firth of Thames.

Northport chairman Sir John Goulter welcomed the decision to refer the matter to the next Auckland council, but called for further discussions to look at alternative solutions to growth issues faced by Ports of Auckland.

Sir John said Northport believes the study took an overly narrow focus and contains errors about Northport that led the Port Future Study Working Group to eliminate it, and the Port of Tauranga, as solutions to the commercial and infrastructural challenges the study addresses. He said Northport told the committee its views before the meeting last Wednesday.

The narrow focus on options for Ports of Auckland to be constrained, grow or relocate meant it did not examine in any detail options to "unbundle" the port's total freight. Instead, Northport and Port of Tauranga were assessed on whether they could assume Auckland's total freight, Sir John said.

"That was never going to be a realistic option because Auckland will, in all likelihood, always require a port facility. But there are opportunities for the load to be shared across the Upper North Island and these have not yet been explored fully."

He said the report overlooks expanding capacity at Northport in the next decade. As well, Northport's container handling ability is being developed and it already has significant, consented expansion plans which include increasing its 570-metre berth length by 270m and its hardstand area to 50 hectares. Longer term plans provide for a total footprint of 70ha and 1.4km of berthage.

Sir John said Northport remained willing and able to provide solutions to the "increasingly acute" challenges it faced.

The greater Marsden Pt area was particularly suited to port expansion, he said, with 180ha of undeveloped, commercial-zoned land adjacent to the port boundary.