New eastern highway threatens homes and protected mangroves

By BERNARD ORSMAN

David Young's tranquil lifestyle will never be the same.

He could lose his home, he might be living metres from a six-lane expressway, or he could witness the destruction of some of Auckland's biggest mangroves.

Building the $460 million expressway up Purewa Creek, which runs into Orakei Basin, is one of the biggest challenges for Auckland Mayor John Banks and planners.

The Meadowbank creek is an ecological gem 5km from downtown Auckland. It contains mangroves with a coastal protection order that prohibits their removal.

A report to the council lists the mangroves as one of the "grey areas" of knowledge at this stage of the project, saying the complete lack of freshwater investigations is a serious flaw. But it says that data can be obtained quickly.

"From a natural environment perspective, the prohibition on the removal of mangroves in the Purewa Creek area may be a very significant constraint," the report says.

The mangroves are on one side of the railway line running along the creek bed. On the other side are dozens of homes - many former state houses - with picturesque views of the mangroves. Completing the picture are beautiful views down Orakei Basin to the city.

Mr Young, an information technology worker, bought his three-bedroom townhouse in Mamaku Rd in March 1998 for $285,000, even though he knew the Eastern Corridor highway might go ahead.

Back in 1998, when the council put plans for a highway on hold, the thinking was to take mangroves for the road.

Eastdor, the consortium of engineers, planners and landscape specialists studying the expressway, has listed three options for Purewa Creek.

Under a basic scheme, Mr Young and other homeowners along the waterway would lose their homes.

An alternative is to seek a change to the regional coastal plan to remove the mangroves.

The third option, under a more expensive $460 million proposal that seeks to minimise environmental damage, is to build the six-lane expressway over the existing railway line. The head of the Eastdor study, Dr Peter Phillips, said there was difficulty fitting six lanes of traffic, a cycleway and pathway within the narrow constraints of the creek. Hence the idea of double-decking road and rail.

But even that option would be disastrous for Mr Young. From the top-floor balcony of his "basically valueless" home, he would stare straight out at the expressway.

"It is so quiet and tranquil here. When I look out there now I think in a few years' time this is all going to be gone," he said.

It is the same for Richard and Penny Cotton, who have lived in their post-war former state house in Mamaku Rd for 33 years.

Once they speared flounder in the creek.

The flatfish are gone now from the shallow coastal water but turquoise-blue kingfishers, tui and moreporks are still a common sight.

The couple's boundary is just 50m from the railway line.

"I think it stinks," Mr Cotton said. "I have a feeling our esteemed mayor is operating with one aim in life and that is to get this thing under way. He will not listen to any other argument.

"If I thought the expressway was going to fix things I might be more sympathetic. But the net result will achieve little. For the amount of money they are dreaming of spending on this they could put rail out to Botany Downs."

Mr Banks said he was not aware of all the detail involving Purewa Creek and the options.

But he favoured "maximum mitigation" and treating people fairly when it came to compensation.

"We want to do everything as well as we can because it does traverse some of the finest urban real estate in the whole of the country.

"It is going to cost a lot more money to do the job properly. It is not just a matter of the cheapest option. But once we have the options, then we can price them up and see how the funding falls."

Feature: Auckland traffic

Related links

nzherald.co.nz/environment