Canals in Auckland's south

Have you ever re-considered the canals? The question posed to a group of Arta officials hangs in the air for a long time.

"The what?"

The canals - the two linking the Waitemata and Manukau harbours.

"Are these navigable? I was under the impression you couldn't get from Waitemata to the Manukau."

You can't - these are proposals that have been on and off the books since about 1887.

"Not to my knowledge - there's certainly nothing in the transport strategy about that option."

Why not?

"It's not something that anyone in the council or the ferry industry has been suggesting to us."

But wouldn't it be fantastic? Auckland would become an island. You could do a round trip - leave downtown and head out of the Waitemata Harbour past St Heliers to the Tamaki Estuary, past Half Moon Bay, the Panmure basin, through the canal at Otahuhu and into the Manukau, under Mangere Bridge, past Onehunga, up to Green Bay, into the canal alongside Portage Rd and back into the Waitemata again via the Whau inlet to meander by Pt Chevalier and Herne Bay back to downtown.

"Yes, there would be possibilities for tourists. The cost would be prohibitive though."

In 1887 Colonel Moule gave an estimated cost of cutting through the Otahuhu Isthmus of 22,876. But EW Blair was probably a bit more realistic, estimating 250,000 for the Otahuhu route and 850,000 for the Whau route for canals and locks that would be suitable for coastal steamers. It is probably a bit more expensive now. In 1983, the Auckland Harbour Board estimated the cost of a 1.5km Tamaki canal at $100 million.

"Yes, but we're not Venice. We have a terminal down at Britomart and we can't have canals coming inland - the topography of Auckland is just not that good. I guess if our city fathers had developed Auckland in a different way you could have at least hypothesised having some sort of canal or estuary type of service - up through the Orakei basin area maybe."

Wouldn't it have been lovely?