Mayor's casting vote seals compromise on port company's extension plans for Bledisloe

NZ Herald

30 Apr, 2015 05:00 PM3 mins to read

The compromise followed a last-minute offer by Ports of Auckland to stop extending the western end of Bledisloe Wharf. Photo / Dean Purcell

Auckland Mayor Len Brown says he had to use his casting vote for a compromise over the port company's wharf extension dispute, in the absence of five councillors.

"I do so on the basis I wished the entire chamber was here," he said after a desperate two-hour debate yesterday afternoon ended with an even split of eight Auckland Council members in favour of compromise, and eight against.

Although the eight in favour included Mr Brown, he was entitled to a second vote, as chair of the council's governing body.

The compromise followed a last-minute offer by Ports of Auckland to stop extending the western end of Bledisloe Wharf by 92m into Waitemata Harbour, pending completion of a port future study by April 30 next year.

Although a council staff report said that would address a number of community concerns, especially around sight lines from Queens Wharf, it means work can continue on a 98m extension from the wharf's eastern end. Councillors opposed to compromise accused the port company of arrogance in taking four weeks to respond to a unanimous resolution of their city development committee calling for it to stop all work pending the strategic study.

Protest group Stop Stealing Our Harbour said allowing the longer wharf extension to continue in defiance of public opinion was "nothing short of a one-fingered salute to the people of Auckland".

Mr Brown acknowledged the compromise proposal was "an imperfect solution". But he could not support an alternative prospect flagged by Waitemata councillor Mike Lee of sacking port company chairman Graeme Hawkins for alleged insubordination.

"That would be an abject failure by this organisation," Mr Brown said. "Trying to find a compromise on the odd occasion ... is what I try to do to get this city and community going forward."

He took exception to an accusation by North Shore councillor Chris Darby that the council had been "rudderless on this matter". Mr Darby agreed to withdraw the comment, but went on to warn his colleagues against "folding like damp paper".

Deputy mayor Penny Hulse, in seconding Mr Brown's recommendation, called it "a dead rat to eat". But she said Auckland's economic, social and environmental future was paramount, and the youth group Generation Zero favoured shipping rather than trucking goods to the city as the more sustainable way of meeting its needs.

Mr Darby described as empty rhetoric her warning to the port company after the city development committee meeting on April 1 that it would face a "thermonuclear" option if it failed to stop work on the two wharf extensions. He said the council risked a "thermonuclear" response from Aucklanders, such as a blockade of the port, it if backed down.

Manurewa-Papakura councillor Calum Penrose asked who would provide jobs to "put food on the table" for a million extra Aucklanders.

"Ports of Auckland is the most important part of Auckland, like the Auckland International Airport, to build our city," he said. "Let's get on with it - we've got SHA [special housing areas] coming down our throats."