Agency tones down birthday celebrations

Organisers of a birthday party for the Auckland Harbour Bridge are backtracking on plans to spend up to $500,000 on the celebrations - including plans for a $40,000 restaurant lunch for engineers.

The bridge turns 50 on May 30, the Saturday of Queen's Birthday Weekend, and secret board meeting papers show the Transport Agency planned to celebrate in style.

But a ballooning budget has resulted in cancellation of a plan to stop traffic and allow thousands of people to cross the bridge on foot, re-creating the 1959 opening day, and cast doubt on other spending.

The agency had looked into closing the bridge for six hours on Sunday, May 31 so up to 320,000 people to walk or cycle across.

But an initial cost estimate of $300,000 increased to $1.2 million and the effect of closing the bridge would cause traffic chaos, said Transport Agency regional director Wayne McDonald.

"Closing the bridge to traffic, even at the weekend, would cause huge congestion on roads throughout the Auckland region that would take an unacceptable number of hours to clear.

"However, we are committed to marking the 50th anniversary with lower-key celebrations that reflect the times in which we now operate."

The agency did not detail those plans. But board meeting papers obtained under the Official Information Act show fireworks costing between $150,000 and $200,000 have also been proposed.

Another option discussed was a $40,000 lunch.

"A luncheon for engineers is proposed to be hosted at The Wharf, a venue at the northern end of the bridge with impressive bridge views.

"The event will celebrate the engineering prowess that has gone into the bridge and invite people who worked on the bridge 50 years ago as special guests, plus current bridge engineers and contractors," the board meeting papers say.

The agency also explored a commemorative stamp with NZ Post, a collectors' coin with the Reserve Bank and a DVD of historic film.

The board papers from last August recommended that the Transport Agency could spend $500,000 on the anniversary celebrations.

An agency spokesman said the plans were not finalised yet but "will be in keeping with the times in which we are all living".