KEY POINTS:
Fletcher Building has agreed in principle with Ports of Auckland to relocate a cement silo and a loadout facility eights years before the lease is due to run out.
Operations will shift from the western reclamation area to the eastern port at a cost of about $46 million with a completion timeframe of between 18 months and two years being contemplated.
Fletcher chief executive Jonathan Ling said there was an agreement in principal between Golden Bay Cement and Ports of Auckland for the early move.
"Ports are keen to relocate us and we're in principal amenable to the move but we're going through the processes now of board approvals for the capital but also things like other various consents," Ling said.
The urban redevelopment plans for the western reclamation covers an area between the Viaduct Harbour and Westhaven, including the Tank Farm.
The company could stay put with its current lease running until about 2015.
"Part of the issue for us is that lease does run out in 2015 at which time we will have to move and of course then the issue is finding another suitable site," Ling said. "So, yes, it brings the move forward about eight years but on balance that's something we're comfortable with."
The cost of the relocation was reasonable given the scale of the operation, he said.
Ling said the move would be an opportunity to upgrade the facility, including for dust and traffic control.
Ports of Auckland general manager of port infrastructure Ben Chrystall said Golden Bay had obtained planning consent from Auckland City Council.
"It needs earthworks consent but that's a fairly routine sort of procedure for the ARC," Chrystall said.
The agreement, which was not yet unconditional, had been arrived at with the port's owner Auckland Regional Holdings, who own the western reclamation.
"Golden Bay are very important to the regional economy ... so we've been talking to them for some time about how we could accommodate them elsewhere so that they don't just have to walk off that facility and not have anywhere to go."
