Auckland Transport offers mental health support to people in path of $1.4b busway

An artist impression of the next stage of the Eastern Busway on Ti Rakau Dr between Pakuranga and Botany Town Centre. Photo / Auckland Transport

Auckland Transport is offering mental health support to residents whose homes are being taken for the $1.4 billion Eastern Busway.

The AT board has confirmed the route for the final stage of the busway between Pakuranga and Botany Town Centre, which will see the loss of more than 40 houses in the suburb of Burswood.

AT sprang the changes on local residents late last year, which involves diverting the busway off Ti Rakau Dr behind the back of China Town and a mega Bunnings store into Burswood before winding back to Ti Rakau Dr.

Auckland Council's development arm Eke Panuku is also drawing up plans for housing intensification at Burswood under new Government rules for greater density near rapid transit stations.

An AT spokesman believed it was the first time confidential counselling for mental health and wellbeing has been offered to support a community affected by one of its projects.

It is being offered to ensure directly affected landowners and the wider neighbourhood of Burswood have access to counselling support if they would find it beneficial, he said.

"The offer has been sent to directly affected landowners and to all residents of the Burswood neighbourhood," he said.

Jacqueline Lewis, who lives a block away from the proposed busway, said about 50 houses will be taken from mostly elderly residents for the busway and a further 30 houses will be impacted by the project.

"I bought in Burswood a couple of years ago specifically because I knew the busway was going up Ti Rakau Dr and leaving a little community alone.

"Burswood has got quite a unique flavour. Most of the residents have been there for 25 years-plus, we do Christmas in the Park together, we do social events and having this busway with the housing they are pushing into it is completely abhorrent to us."

Lewis, a member of the Burswood Residents Collective set up to oppose the diversion, said some residents had only heard about mental health support from AT second-hand and did not believe it was sincere.

Mike Jones fears his partner Rachel Southey and their 3-year-old son Alexander could lose their home due to intensification along the Eastern Busway at Burswood in East Auckland. Photo / Supplied

She had no time at all for AT, saying when the collective made a presentation to the board they did not listen to a single word.

"AT had made up their mind before they even started," Lewis said.

Mike Jones has lived in Burswood, designed to have little through traffic and a peaceful feel, with his partner and their 3-year-old son for 25 years.

The family lives about 40m away from houses being compulsorily acquired for the busway and Jones fears his house will be taken for intensification around the bus station.

He bases this on an official document that says there is "significant opportunity for public intervention to trigger land use change adjacent to the bus station" and an initial investment from Auckland Council's property arm Eke Panuku of about $14m to acquire 10 properties "to trigger this change".

"It feels to me like they are doing it by stealth. I think they are going to do a forced acquisition of homes," said Jones, saying he would be really gutted to lose his home.

Eke Panuku is being cagey about plans for high-density housing at Burswood, saying only it is doing a detailed assessment of development opportunities created by the Eastern Busway, including "hypothetical conceptual work".

The Burswood diversion will go behind China Town on Ti Rakau Dr. Photo / Steven McNicholl

"As to when that will actually happen it is simply too early to say. There is a considerable amount to be undertaken on the busway project before that work would start," a spokeswoman said.

In a media statement on Wednesday, acting AT chief executive Mark Lambert acknowledged the approved design and route will impact the homes of some Burswood residents.

"We have given extra consideration to their feedback over several months. The decision on the preferred options was made only after a large number of alternative alignment possibilities were considered both on and around Ti Rakau Dr," he said.

Among the reasons AT has given for proceeding with the diversion is that it will maintain access along Ti Rakau Dr to commercial businesses and increase access to the busway for residents and nearby communities.

In a presentation to the AT board, the collective said it suspected the driver for change was that it is far easier to target residents than take on large commercial owners.

There will be more opportunities for Burswood residents and the wider public to provide feedback on the route when AT applies for resource consents, which will be publicly notified.

The busway will from Panmure to the Botany Town Centre. Photo / Ted Baghurst

As it stands, AT intends to begin work this year at Pakuranga on the last 5km stretch of the busway, which will run from Panmure to Botany Town centre when completed in 2027.

The Eastern Busway is a dedicated busway, similar to the Northern Busway, for the car-dependent eastern suburbs, which includes new bus interchanges at Pakuranga and Botany and a flyover for vehicles at Pakuranga.

Once built, it is expected to carry 30,000 people a day between the rapidly growing southeastern suburbs and the rail network at Panmure, making it possible to travel by bus and train between Botany and Britomart in 40 minutes - 20 minutes quicker than now.

Midway through last year, the busway's completion date was pushed back from 2025 to 2027 due to a funding wrangle between Auckland and Wellington.