Politicians act to stop sale of top Auckland marina

By BERNARD ORSMAN and WAYNE THOMPSON

Auckland politicians banded together today in a last ditch-effort to stop the city's premier marina being sold - on the day Ports of Auckland put out documents for an international sale by tender.

Auckland City mayor John Banks said constitutional lawyer Sir Geoffrey Palmer was being asked for an opinion on whether Westhaven Marina is public property and should be gifted to Aucklanders at no cost.

Mr Banks said the council sought a definitive legal opinion as to the history and ownership and whether Aucklanders should have Westhaven transferred back to them at no cost.

Controversy over how the port company came to own a recreational asset such as Westhaven has endured since the company took over former harbour board assets in 1988.

Mr Banks confirmed that the council's solicitor Simpson Grierson had informally advised that the land does belong to the company and can be sold to the highest bidder.

On January 29, the city council unanimously decided to take part in the tender process.

Mr Banks said there was concern among Aucklanders that the council should be seeking to buy Westhaven Marina when in fact "it has always belonged to us and still belongs to us".

In a further move, Auckland Regional Council members Sandra Coney and Mike Lee said today they would seek their council's support for a moratorium on the sale of the Westhaven and Hobson West marinas.

This would give time for consultation with interested community organisations and the public on whether the marinas should be in public ownership.

In December, the Government said legislation would be passed transferring ownership of Infrastructure Auckland to the regional council.

Infrastructure Auckland owns 80 per cent of the publicly-listed Ports of Auckland but its board has refused to interfere in the company's plan to sell the marinas, estimated to be worth about $50 million.

Westhaven Community Action Group, Jake Ryan said the politicians were heeding "a rising groundswell of opinion" that the marinas should be owned by the public.

The action group met Local Government Minister Chris Carter last week and appealed for him to instruct Infrastructure Auckland to stop the tender proceeding, or bring in legislation to withdraw the marinas from sale.

The Government approved the transfer of former harbour board assets to Ports of Auckland in 1988.

The company paid $11.3 million for Westhaven and in 1999 created the Hobson West marina near the Viaduct Harbour for larger yachts that visited during the first America's Cup regatta.

The company says the marinas are no longer core assets and it wants to sell them to concentrate on cargo activities.

It says that as a listed company it is not required to undertake a public consultation on disposal of assets.

Mr Lee said the regional council as custodian of 80 percent of port assets had to be careful that it did what the public wanted.

Auckland City Council is now looking at how it can pay for the marinas - if it decides to tender for them.