Transfund wavers on money for Auckland's eastern highway

By BERNARD ORSMAN

The proposed eastern highway is at risk after Transfund chairman David Stubbs said the board was unwilling to commit more public money to the controversial project.

Mr Stubbs told the Herald that it would be imprudent for the road funding agency to spend up to $30 million in preliminary work when there was no funding for construction within 10 years.

"If there was a funding plan and we knew more precisely that the project was likely to be started, then the board would have a basis for revisiting the decision," Mr Stubbs said. "But until that time that is not the case."

The eastern highway, estimated to cost between $460 million and $1 billion, does not have any funding in Transit's 10-year road-building programme.

Auckland Mayor John Banks has staked his political future on building the eastern highway, with strong backing from Manukau Mayor Sir Barry Curtis.

Mr Stubbs said the eastern highway and Transmission Gully, just north of Wellington, could soak up between $80 million and $90 million in preliminary costs - money that could be spent on tangible projects.

Auckland and Manukau councils have asked Transfund to pay all the $13.2 million for a second detailed study into the 25km highway, which would run from the city across Hobson Bay and through the eastern suburbs to Manukau. If they cannot get the money, ratepayers could be asked to pick up the tab.

The board agreed in December to give a holding grant of $720,000 and asked the councils for more information, particularly about securing the route as a transport corridor.

The councils have prepared a detailed response for the Transfund board to consider on February 19.

Mr Stubbs said that while the board was keen to ensure the eastern corridor remained designated for transport, it had reservations about spending a lot of money preparing for construction too far ahead of time.

The councils have estimated the preliminary costs of the project at $30 million, including $13.2 million for the second study and $7 million in legal costs for resource consents.

Eastern corridor project director Grant Kirby said he met Transfund officers last Wednesday and received no indication that the board would decline funding for the second study to ensure the route was protected.

Mr Kirby said the councils had also told the Transfund board they were working on funding options for construction, which include private participation and tolls.

The councils have the backing of Transit New Zealand, which has agreed to pay 25 per cent of the cost of the second study.

Transit's national highway manager Rick Van Barneveld said it was too early to say what the board of the road building agency would do if Transfund declined to fund the study.

Transit is fully funded by Transfund and two board members - Mr Stubbs and Jan Wright - sit on the Transit board.

A senior council officer working on the eastern highway said that if the councils could not line up the principal roading funder for the study and later work, it would be hard to commit millions of dollars to the project.

"It will be a pretty hard one for the politicians to swallow, particularly as there are other issues going on in the region in terms of prioritisation of funding," the officer said.

Terry Gould, spokesman for Stop the Eastern Motorway, said the Transfund decision was the first sign that the highway was totally ill-conceived and it countered the councils' "PR Machine" that it was a fait accompli.

* The National MP for Epsom, Richard Worth, says efforts to provide a new rail service for Auckland have become a farce, putting hundreds of millions of dollars at risk.

Mr Worth was responding to comments by rail project director Elena Trout, appointed to bring together the city's fractious local body politicians, that she could not do her job.

Mr Worth said the Government needed to clean up the mess, which he blamed on new bureaucratic empires, the Auckland Regional Council and expensive consultants.

Transport Minister Paul Swain declined comment.

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