KEY POINTS:
Officially, AucklandPlus bills itself as a business unit of the Auckland Regional Council, charged with implementing the Auckland Regional Economic Development Strategy (Areds).
In reality, it is gearing up to become an economic development super-agency responsible for regional tourism, events management and even allocating public money to other economic development agencies in the region.
This new role, spelled out in the latest report on Auckland's troubled local governance, reflects growing confidence among business and local government in AucklandPlus' ability to transform Auckland's economy to world-class status.
There is general agreement among central and local government for AucklandPlus' enhanced role but not on how the revamped agency will be funded. The simplest way, and one canvassed in the governance report, is for existing government funding for the region's economic development, tourism and major events to be channelled through AucklandPlus. Overnight this would make it the most powerful economic development agency in the region, if not the country.
The fact that Auckland's disparate local body and business interests can reach any measure of agreement on anything regional reflects AucklandPlus' deft handling of the Metro Project, the vehicle driving the regional economic development strategy.
The project went public last October with the release of 31 "actions" needed to lift Auckland's economic performance. Nine months later, most of the actions are progressing or on target (see page 4), thanks in part to considerable voluntary work by prominent businesspeople, community leaders and council officials in a number of working groups.
Most of the 70 "Champions for Auckland" who were identified to help facilitate some of the Metro workstreams were head-hunted by AucklandPlus.
The most important tasks so far have been to put in place strategies to:
* promote the region to attract national and international business;
* act as a single point of contact for current and potential investors, including information management and communications, promotion, inquiry response and aftercare; and
* facilitate regional economic development projects (large, multi-agency, cross-boundary/council projects that receive external funding).
It has made some headway in the past year with a relatively small budget and team - $2.5 million ($1.6 million from the Auckland Regional Council with most of the balance from other state agencies), seven fulltime staff and three fulltime contractors. The next step will require a significant funding boost and greater resources, though there are no plans, according to AucklandPlus group manager Clyde Rogers, for AucklandPlus to leave the regional council nest.
"In the past 12 months, we have demonstrated the value of being a business unit of the ARC. Behind us is a considerable research capacity. The was demonstrated around the broadband project."
But Rogers says funding will have to change.
"In the past year the ARC increased our resources by close to $1 million but the reality is that we have to increase our other funding streams."
Rogers says district councils are not ready to fund AucklandPlus directly, though many are funding economic activities of their own.
"Funding is still a challenge for us. A lot of what we can do is dependent on us accessing private-sector funds."
Fortunately for AucklandPlus, many of the issues that once divided the region and set district councils against each other and against the regional council have eased or been resolved. These include:
* the government-proposed waterfront stadium for the 2011 Rugby World Cup - dropped in favour of a revamped Eden Park;
* the promotion of Auckland as the key venue for the Rugby World Cup (and other international sporting events) - settled with the appointment of Australian event expert and athlete Rachael Dacy as chairwoman of the Auckland Regional Steering Group (see Page 5); and
* the future of the Wynyard Point tank farm - largely settled after agreements involving the Auckland City Council, the regional council and its subsidiary Auckland Regional Holdings and Ports of Auckland. (Wynyard Point has since been identified a possible entry-point for a cross-harbour tunnel.)
Even the long debate over infrastructure, an area identified as crucial to Auckland's development as a world-class economy, seems to have gone quiet because of progress on a number of fronts.
The Southern and Northwestern Motorway links have been completed in the past year, considerable progress has been made on the Northern Motorway widening, bus lanes and interchanges, and work on the western ring route through Mt Roskill is well under way.
Business concerns over the stability of Auckland's long-term power supply have been put to rest with the Electricity's Commission's final determination on a new high-voltage link between the Waikato and Auckland.
And public transport, long seen as the region's weak link, has attracted unexpected good news recently with the opening of new stations and double-tracking on the western line, increased services and patronage and long-term plans for electrification of the network.
The infrastructure upgrade will make it easier for AucklandPlus to pitch for more tourists and major events.
Clyde Rogers says the district councils have the skills to manage events but a regional approach is needed to attract new events.
"Investment tends to follow major events. It is about identifying the types of events that will be of value to the community," he says.
"Our role is to advocate on behalf of the whole region. The region has operated as a silo for a long time and the big challenge in front of us is to try to encourage people to work together.
"We have generated a high level of willingness for the public and private sector to get involved but we have not quite succeeded in getting funds out of them."
Tracy Moyes - who is key facilitator for several Metro Projects that sit under the AucklandPlus banner - says the good progress being made is due to the "massive input" from supportive Auckland business leaders.
The innovation and skills workstreams which are championed respectively by Microsoft managing director Helen Robinson and Areds chairman Peter Menzies are long-haul projects. But Moyes said they are gaining incredible momentum.
AucklandPlus' work is supported by a business advisory group chaired by Michael Barnett, who is also chair of the Regional Economic Development Forum. Other members include Macquarie NZ executive chairman Jim McLay, Pumpkin Patch executive chairman Greg Muir, Rural Portfolio Investments managing director Craig Norgate, brand strategist Diana Parry, ICT NZ chair Ross Peat, Microsoft managing director Helen Robinson and Tourism Auckland chairman Rodney Walshe.
AucklandPlus works with the region's seven councils, government agencies, the Chambers of Commerce and Employers and Manufacturers Associations, and the Committee for Auckland.
