KEY POINTS:
Auckland City's transport committee has sent a blunt message to council chief executive David Rankin about a $14 million cost blowout on the Greenlane roading improvements.
The committee passed an amended resolution yesterday advising Mr Rankin "that cost overrun surprises of this order are totally unacceptable".
It is demanding a report from him to prevent any recurrence and to provide better financial monitoring of major council projects.
The riposte, which was opposed at the committee table by Mayor Dick Hubbard and Deputy Mayor Bruce Hucker in a 7-3 vote, came a day after the Herald revealed a $17.4 million cost overrun for several central city projects, including the Queen St upgrade.
The Greenlane upgrade, centred around a widening of Great South Rd for bus lanes and improvements to its busy intersection with Greenlane East and Greenlane West, is now expected to cost up to $26 million, compared with $12.2 million approved for the project in 2004. It will take until next July to complete - nine months longer than expected.
Officers blame a series of difficulties ranging from land purchase wrangles and traffic management nightmares to the resignations of two project managers.
Dr Hucker, who opposed the amendment, said Mr Rankin had already requested a full investigation by the council's internal audit team "so there is no need for us to attempt to censure the chief executive".
Auckland Citizens and Ratepayers Now councillor Doug Armstrong, who proposed the amendment, denied that was his intent but said the committee should "put a real barb" into its resolution in the face of such a hefty overrun.
"I regard a cost overrun of this order of magnitude as being completely and utterly unacceptable," he said. "If you produce a 100 per cent cost overrun it questions the whole viability of the project."
Dr Hucker said the project had been hit by "Murphy's Law", starting with inadequate costings from the previous council and affected by an overheated construction industry which had produced just one tender for the job.
He said the establishment of better reporting structures under the council's new transport division and the replacement of the original engineer to the contract were radical enough measures without need for a resolution "saying that the chief executive's performance is not up to scratch".
