Eastern Highway fight could take years

By BERNARD ORSMAN

On the surface, it's just another highway. But to mayors John Banks and Sir Barry Curtis, Auckland's proposed eastern suburbs highway is the key to relieving congestion and fostering growth.

For Terry Gould, head of the Stop the Eastern Motorway community group, the project is a flawed concept that will ruin Auckland's quality of life.

In the coming months and years these diehards will wage a passionate, political battle for the hearts and minds of Aucklanders.

It is not dissimilar to the Britomart debate, when citizens crushed the political career and council of Les Mills. This led to a scaled-down, more people-friendly transport centre at the bottom of Queen St.

Auckland City Mayor John Banks, whose association with the eastern corridor goes back 25 years to when he and Sir Barry, the Manukau Mayor, were on the Auckland Regional Authority, has an historic feel for the project he is bent on finishing. Politics permitting.

"I have no doubt this will be the number one election issue at the 2004 local body elections," Banks said, "and it won't just be about the eastern corridor. It will be, 'Banksie wants to build more motorways'.

"My mayoralty stands or falls on my commitment to completing the Auckland motorway network."

Mr Gould puts it this way. Mr Banks' motorway-friendly council has a "little bit more gusto" than the last council that tried to build a motorway along the eastern corridor. In 1997, the council of Les Mills came close to getting something under way before he lost over Britomart and the new council of Christine Fletcher stopped work.

The Stem group plans to meet gusto with gusto. With more than 1000 members, many of them powerful lawyers whose multimillion-dollar homes overlook the Hobson Bay and Orakei pathway for the six-lane highway, the group has the expertise and money to fight a long battle.

Add to their ranks up to 200 angry, low-to-middle-income families who stand to lose their homes along Ti Rakau Drive in Pakuranga.

"We will avail ourselves of all the due processes under the Resource Management Act," Mr Gould said.

"We are not going to be vexatious ... but we will be doing everything we can within those procedures to make sure our case is heard."

A legal challenge by Mr Gould led to Stem's formation in 1995. That flowed to an Environment Court ruling forcing the council to seek a new designation on the eastern corridor before any construction. In practical terms, that means the public must have a say before the council can build the highway.

What drives Mr Gould, whose Parnell homes overlooks Hobson Bay, is a passionate desire to preserve what little is left of Auckland's environment and ecology for his grandchildren.

He also believes public transport, not cars, is the sustainable answer to the traffic problem.

"I don't think the expressway is a done deal for two reasons. I'm convinced that the devil is in the detail and will make the project so incredibly difficult it will be too hard to solve," Mr Gould said.

"Secondly, I'm eternally hopeful that Aucklanders will be saying we don't want to pay this price and the one thing we have on our side is that there are at least two more elections before the first sod will be turned.

"This could be the son of Britomart. This baby is turning into a bit of a beast."

Mr Banks, who has not yet got detailed plans for the highway and the economic, environmental and social impacts, sees Stem as a hostile force.

"I'd like to think in 12 months' time, when we have options in front of us, they will become lukewarm.

"This is politically high risk but I'm quietly confident that the people of Auckland are going to witness a lot of good things happening around the completion of the motorway network."

Sir Barry, is adamant the highway must go ahead to reduce the $1 billion cost congestion inflicts on Auckland business and the economy.

"The future of the Auckland region and New Zealand to a large extent depends on the introduction of this corridor, with others."

Feature: Auckland traffic

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