Banks offers tea and not much sympathy

By BERNARD ORSMAN

The china teacups will be rattling at the Auckland Mayoral Forum today when the new boy in the club, Auckland Mayor John Banks, breaks ranks with regional consensus on a new $1.2 billion public transport scheme for the region.

Mr Banks, who will host Greater Auckland's other mayors to tea and sandwiches at the Auckland Town Hall, said yesterday that the new, pro-road-dominated Auckland City Council would oppose the largely rail-based "albatross".

Local councils, including the previous Auckland City Council, have signed up to the $1.2 billion public transport blueprint. It has a mix of light rail in the downtown city and in the west, heavy trains in the south, and a busway on the North Shore.

The Auckland Regional Council is moving ahead with detailed work on the scheme, including financial planning and the timing of investments, which it hopes to present to the councils for formal approval within six months.

Tenders will then be called to build key parts of the railway system.

"At the appropriate time I will be signalling to the mayoral forum that it is not business as usual and that the philosophies, concepts and principles, along with the policy, has changed," Mr Banks said.

"I'm not signing up to a grand railway scheme for Greater Auckland where the costs will fall greatly on the ratepayers of Auckland City. I have a mandate to move resolutely on the completion of the Auckland motorway system and that is my focus."

Mr Banks, who supports regional plans for a combination of road and public transport solutions, said he preferred buses ahead of trains for Auckland public transport.

"I don't believe we have the money to do the infrastructural development, including the completion of the roading system and the grand railway scheme."

ARC chairman Phil Warren said he was not concerned about what Mr Banks and his new council had to say about the transport scheme.

"Anything could happen. Not only am I interested in what John Banks has to say about transport in the Auckland area, I will be interested in the mayors of the region and their new councils."

But a senior ARC source told the Herald it would be very difficult to implement the transport scheme if Auckland City withdrew support.

Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey, who predicted during the election campaign that Mr Banks' "bullying" and "aggro" would be divisive and destructive to the mayoral forum, yesterday played down the comments.

Mr Harvey said he now believed the mayoral forum would have a good relationship with Mr Banks, starting with today's meeting, which was focusing on policing issues.

North Shore Mayor George Wood is expected to be appointed the new chairman of the mayoral forum, replacing Christine Fletcher, who lost the Auckland City mayoralty to Mr Banks.

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