Brian Rudman: One 'referendum' we should all take part in

Should Auckland's waterfront be a public pleasure garden, or a cash-cow helping to bankroll roads and sewers? That's the key question to be answered in the latest round of public consultation.

I suspect that like me, most Aucklanders will go for the pleasure garden option, as did Auckland City last March when it unveiled its vision of the area becoming a "marine precinct."

But it's not Auckland City we have to convince, it's the Auckland Regional Council. Perhaps reassure is a better word than convince, because I suspect many at the ARC don't really have their hearts in the alternative. That is to turn the old America's Cup yacht bases and the tank farm into more exclusive enclaves of millionaire apartments and swanky office blocks, and start milking the rich rents.

The problem for the regional council is that the pressure is on, from Government and business circles, to use its assets to expand the region's roading and drainage infrastructure. Through its 80 per cent shareholding in Ports of Auckland, the ARC stands to benefit from any commercial exploitation of the tank farm. Through America's Cup Village and Auckland Regional Holdings, it has total control of what remains of the old cup village.

As far as the old village area is concerned, Paul Walbran, chairman of regional strategy and planning, says the ARC is "pretty open-minded" about its future and wants to hear from the public "because at the end of the day it's the regional public which ends up forgoing income that could be spent on stormwater or transport".

As a commercial entity, America's Cup Village is expected to maximise the return from its property investments, which is why Auckland City is having to pay $50,000 a month rental on the area. Changing this will need an instruction from the ARC.

That's why it's important that everyone who wants to preserve as much of the waterfront as possible for the pleasure of future generations joins in this round of consultation.

Boring as consultation might seem, this is one referendum we should all take part in.

Last March when former Mayor John Banks launched the grand marine precinct proposal, the idea was to eventually buy up to $400 million of land between the harbour bridge and Queens Wharf.

The port company rained on that parade by saying it wasn't interested in selling. Since then, the ARC has become the majority shareholder of the port company and has also teamed up with Auckland City's visionary schemes. On Monday, when the two launched this round of consultation, the vision had widened to include the foreshore around to Mechanics Bay.

At first look, one could be mistaken for thinking the consultation was about styles of footbridges and walkways. And on one level it is. But it's the big picture that's really important.

We need to stiffen the ARC's backbone, to let the politicians know Aucklanders would never forgive them if they missed this once-only opportunity to preserve the waterfront for all Aucklanders.

An urgent decision is needed on the old cup base area, which the city wants as a marine events centre - as home base for future America's Cup racing, for dragon boat contests, fashion shows and anything else with a nautical theme. But until a decision is made on its future, the city has to turn down requests for bookings a year or two out.

On a more extended time scale, leases on tank farm properties expire between 2015 and 2022. The city wants to find alternative homes for the tank users and develop this area into the home for marine and fishing industries, plus public recreation.

An alternative nightmare would be for Ports of Auckland to lock ordinary Aucklanders out by leasing the prime sites to the highest bidders. I'm not saying that will happen. But if you want to ensure it doesn't, then say your piece now.