Mayoral toll call buys fight with lobby

Auckland mayors face strong opposition from the million-member Automobile Association in their pitch to toll existing roads to raise cash for regional transport projects.

It says motorists will never accept tolls on roads which they have already paid for in fuel taxes.

The mayors of three cities - Auckland, Manukau and Waitakere - want power to raise revenue locally even though their North Shore counterpart, George Wood, fears this may shield the Government from some of its transport funding responsibilities.

Mr Wood's was the only dissenting voice at a mayoral forum meeting on the issue, but Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee has since come out against tolls, and the AA wants existing roads left alone.

"Motorists have already paid for the region's existing roads through fuel tax and other charges, and would never accept tolls on those roads," spokesman Simon Lambourne said yesterday.

He acknowledged AA support for tolling new roads which may not otherwise be built without such a revenue source, but said the Government first needed to return all fuel tax taken from Auckland motorists to regional transport projects.

Mr Lambourne said only 35 per cent of that money was invested in Auckland transport, and a full return would add $200 million a year.

Auckland City Mayor Dick Hubbard is meanwhile under fire from a member of his council, Cathy Casey, for planning to argue the case for tolls in Wellington next month before the council can reach a policy position.

"We are a centre-left council and should not be a guinea pig for the rest of the country," she said.

Dr Casey said high property prices were forcing people to buy homes far from where they worked, and forcing them to drive long distances in the absence of adequate public transport.

Mr Wood pointed to Labour's agreement to exempt Tauranga motorists from tolls on a new harbour crossing, in return for political support from New Zealand First, and called on the Government to treat Aucklanders with similar respect.

But Mr Hubbard said Auckland's transport needs far exceeded those of Tauranga, and gaining the right to raise supplementary funds did not mean the forum would relax efforts to extract cash from the Government.