ARC rates to rise by 4.9pc

The Auckland Regional Council has approved a rates rise averaging 4.9 per cent for 2006-07 - most of it to pay for public transport improvements.

Chairman Mike Lee said the council also planned the same level of "moderate increase" for each year over the next 10 years.

Spending on public transport would rise to $145 million in 2006-07, which was four times the budget of 2001-02. Improving the passenger transport network over the next decade would need an estimated $1.6 billion.