Rail comments rile mayors

By BERNARD ORSMAN

Auckland Mayor Christine Fletcher has outraged other local mayors by suggesting that Auckland City should dump a regional transport plan and go it alone.

Manukau Mayor Sir Barry Curtis said Mrs Fletcher's proposal to break ranks was absurd and would destroy the integrity of the regional land transport strategy.

North Shore Mayor George Wood said that for Auckland City to lose its nerve now would be unhelpful to regional unity.

Mrs Fletcher's comments have come at a crucial time in the rail negotiations between the region, the Government and Transfund, and just when Auckland City officials have been trying to dispel the myth in Wellington that "Auckland can't get its act together."

The comments also coincided with news that the Government has set up a powerful cabinet subcommittee to work on a national rail policy, which includes Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Last week, Mrs Fletcher suggested that "rather than biting off more than we can chew regionally, Auckland City should go it alone with a public-private partnership system" along the lines of a venture she saw in Nottingham on a trip to Britain before Christmas.

"If the Government thinks the scale of the whole [regional transport] project is too big, we should go back and say, 'how about phasing it in around the city only?"'

Mrs Fletcher was referring to the purchase of the rail corridor around Mt Eden, Newmarket and Parnell to service the inner city.

Sir Barry said that if Mrs Fletcher's suggestion was taken up it would set back the region's chance of solving its transport problems by years, and leave the other regional partners in the lurch.

Mrs Fletcher said yesterday that the comments were made in an interview before Christmas when rail negotiations were not looking promising.