Auckland Chamber of Commerce is proposing a man-made ship terminal in the Firth of Thames as a replacement for Ports of Auckland rather than Northport.
Photo / Fullmoon Photography
Auckland Chamber of Commerce is proposing a man-made ship terminal in the Firth of Thames as a replacement for Ports of Auckland rather than Northport.
Photo / Fullmoon Photography
Another report on the relocation of the Ports of Auckland has come out - this time by a business lobby group advocating for a man-made "island ship exchange terminal" in the Firth of Thames that is connected by broad gauge rail to a container terminal facility.
But former Far Northmayor Wayne Brown said the suggestion was ridiculously expensive and was least likely to get resource consents, given the area did not have critical infrastructure in place.
The latest report by Auckland Chamber of Commerce said New Zealanders deserved to have an informed discussion about developing a port that could serve another 100 to 150 years, rather than allow a politician or government to make that decision.
"Rather than endless debates, politicking and lobbying pitching the ports of Auckland, Northport and Tauranga against each other as short-term options, we believe there is a better way to re-imagine the port of the future," chamber chief executive Michael Barnett said.
He said the man-made terminal would be for the whole of New Zealand, servicing large foreign trade ships handling all import and export containers.
But Brown, who led a 2018 study calling for Auckland's overcrowded port to be moved to Northport at Whangārei's Marsden Pt, said his team also looked at Firth of Thames as an option.
Wayne Brown is calling for the Auckland port to be moved to Northport. Photo / File
He said there was no road, power, rail, a town, or an excavation landfill for the option to work.
"They need nine major resource consents, the iwi don't want it, mussel farmers don't want it, so it's going to be the most expensive thing to dream of and has the least likely chance of getting resource consents."
Brown said opposition to moving the port to Northport was all about holding everything in Auckland.
"They think New Zealand is part of Auckland. It's Auckland bias. Auckland doesn't export anything," he said.
The chamber report said the man-made island would serve purely as a ship exchange platform while the physical container terminal would be located at a greenfield site in the vicinity of the main trunk rail line and Waikato Expressway, near Pokeno and Meremere.
Automated electrified trains running on broad gauge tracks will connect the man-made island in the firth to the container terminal at Meremere.
The report said the existing Ports of Auckland was fully sustainable for another 25 to 30 years.
The chamber has sent its report to representatives of the freight, transport and shipping sectors to get their feedback by the end of August on the best options for a future-proofed port.
