Onehunga residents are concerned about their suburb being cut off from its coastal foreshore if a planned $1.8 billion road goes ahead in its current form.
The route of the east-west link will become the "Tamaki Drive" of the Mangere Inlet ending with a "big ugly motorway interchange" at Onehunga, The Onehunga Enhancement Society (TOES) today told a board of inquiry considering the proposal.
The east-west link will run through Auckland's industrial belt and connect State Highway 1 at Sylvia Park with State Highway 20 at Onehunga. The project is costed at between $1.25b and $1.85b.
We talk about Auckland becoming the world's most liveable city yet none of the cities we admire around the globe would build a motorway on a waterfront - they are tearing them up
"Put simply, the east-west link will further sever the urban area of Onehunga from its coastal foreshore, adversely impacting on heritage, volcanic and other valuable features along the way," TOES counsel Grant Hewison said.
"The only mitigation of any substance is a land bridge over the trenched section. Frankly, most of the experts don't think that goes anywhere far enough," he said.
Hewison said TOES, the Rethink East-West Link Society and the Manukau Harbour Restoration Society supported the idea of an east-west connection in principle but not the proposal by the New Zealand Transport Agency, especially the elevated interchange structure at the Onehunga-Neilson St end.
He said NZTA made it clear the east-west link is not a motorway and likened the Mangere Inlet section to Ponsonby Rd and not a big ugly motorway.
"Perhaps a closer analogy than Ponsonby Rd is that this section of the east-west link will become the 'Tamaki Drive' of the Mangere Inlet, especially with its extensive reclamations, attractive cycling and walking routes, and uninterrupted views of the harbour," Hewison said.
This could seriously undermine the current industrial uses of the area inland from the road and encourage the development of housing and retail activities.
"These retail and residential pressures on industrial land are already truly underway. The Auckland Unitary Plan independent hearings panel said they expected most heavy industry will migrate over time to the periphery of the city," Hewison said.
TOES has come up with its own community plan to overcome gridlock on local roads and improve access to the waterfront.
Ngati Whatua Orakei is also fighting to protect the Onehunga foreshore and Mangere Inlet, according to its submission presented today.
Said Nagati Whatua spokesman Ngarimu Blair: "We talk about Auckland becoming the world's most liveable city yet none of the cities we admire around the globe would build a motorway on a waterfront - they are tearing them up."
He said the near $2b motorway project, like most before it, will be congested soon after the ribbons are cut and the karakia delivered.
"Onehunga had their beaches destroyed and replaced by inferior man-made spaces. The opportunity for sensitive future development along the Mangere Inlet that meaningfully reconnects the public with the moana will be forever prevented," said Blair, citing the case of Tamaki Drive severing the iwi's connection with Okahu Bay and Waitemata Harbour in 1932.
The board of inquiry, chaired by retired High Court Judge Dr John Priestley, is set to run until August 25.
The board will release a draft decision on October 9. Following comments from submitters on minor or technical matters, the board is due to make a final decision on November 22.
Construction is expected to begin late next year and be completed by 2025.
