Public still in dark about $27m cruise ship terminal

Details about a proposed $27.3 million terminal are being kept secret. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Aucklanders are being given no more information about the financial case for a cruise ship terminal on Queens Wharf, which has risen in cost from $6 million to $27.3 million.

Mayor Len Brown has signed up ratepayers to pay $27.3 million to convert Shed 10 on Queens Wharf into a terminal - several times the $6 million to $10 million price tag for a functional cruise ship facility by economic forecasters Covec.

Another report by PricewaterhouseCoopers said spending more on a terminal would not significantly increase benefits to the industry.

Cruise New Zealand chief executive Craig Harris said the industry just wanted a functional terminal for passengers and crew to come and go.

Despite the evidence favouring a practical facility, neither Auckland Council nor Waterfront Auckland have given Aucklanders hard information to support the $27.3 million proposal.

Last month, Auckland councillors rubber-stamped the $27.3 million proposal without a proper report on the project. Three weeks ago, the Waterfront Auckland board, headed by former Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey, approved a business plan behind closed doors.

The confidential plan has been given to council finance officers, who will review it and report to the strategy and finance committee in February.

Yesterday, Waterfront Auckland and council officers claimed an investment proposal had gone to councillors, but there is no public record of it.

Waterfront Auckland chief executive John Dalzell said councillors only needed an investment proposal to put the cruise facility in the draft long-term budget for public consultation, which would be followed by a more detailed business case.

Asked what was in the investment proposal, Mr Dalzell said it was a standard template, "but it is not for me to be giving you this sort of stuff".

Mr Brown, who has said his first 10-year budget is about "prudence and affordability", said a proposal for funding was included in the draft budget but did not give any details of the investment proposal.

He said the project could be examined and refined further and subject to a business case going through the council.

Waterfront Auckland is searching for a design team to convert the century-old Shed 10 into a cruise terminal in time for the 2012-2013 season.

Several councillors have expressed the view that Waterfront Auckland should avoid "gold-plating" Shed 10, which will double as a public facility outside the 80-odd days it is used as a cruise facility.

When Mr Brown made a unilateral decision in June to build a cruise ship terminal on Queens Wharf after earlier promising to consult Aucklanders on options for a terminal, he put the cost at $6 million.

Last month, the mayor's office said the $6 million figure referred to short-term work to bring Shed 10 up to an acceptable standard and the $23.7 million cost was for "modest, medium-term improvements".