Auckland Transport plans a new electric ferry charging building on Queens Wharf. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Auckland Transport plans a new electric ferry charging building on Queens Wharf. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Auckland Transport is seeking resource consent for a two-storey building on Queens Wharf for electric ferry charging.
Councillor Mike Lee and Heritage New Zealand have expressed concerns the building could obstruct harbour views.
AT’s $145 million ferry programme includes four low-emission ferries and charging infrastructure at Downtown and Half Moon Bay.
A two-storey building is proposed to be built on Queens Wharf to charge electric ferries from late next year.
Auckland Transport (AT) has applied for resource consent for stage one of its ferry programme at the Downtown Ferry Terminal, and its plan has sparked concerns from Heritage New Zealand and Waitematā and Gulf councillor Mike Lee.
Lee said the charging building could be an eyesore and obstruct public views of the harbour, and there are better places to put it.
An artist's impression of the proposed electric ferry charging building located on the northeasten end of Queens Wharf.
AT’s publicly-notified application requests use of the land for five years to charge electric ferries at three berths costing about $30 million. It will apply later for consent to extend this, to electrify all nine ferry berths.
The stage one application is part of a $145m package to build four low-emission ferries and charging infrastructure at Downtown and Half Moon Bay, and pontoon improvements at Hobsonville Point to enable larger ferries to meet growing demand.
AT said if the consent is approved, the electric charger infrastructure installation will begin in the first half of next year, in time for the first low-emission ferries to start charging at Downtown from late 2025.
The ferry programme is currently being rescoped in light of Government funding cuts, and has suffered setbacks, such as a major issue with the batteries for Auckland’s first two electric ferries, which weigh some 10 tonnes each.
Two-storey “charger building” housing switch gear, transformers, chillers and other equipment.
High and low voltage cables
Queens Wharf services building upgraded with new electrical equipment.
Modifications to pontoons for ferry berths 2, 4 and 5 to allow for cabling and charging units.
AT plans to build the two-storey building behind Shed 10 on the eastern side of the wharf. The site is well back from Michael Parekōwhai’s sculpture, The Lighthouse, depicting a 1950s-style state house, at the end of Queens Wharf.
Queens Wharf, built in the early 1900s, has several heritage features and is scheduled by Heritage New Zealand as a Category B heritage place. The historic Shed 10 has been converted into an events space and a customs area for cruise ships.
Railway tracks, crane rails and a weighbridge are other heritage features.
The wharf includes the Cloud, the semi-permanent events structure built for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and nine berths along its western side.
Lee was chairman of the Auckland Regional Council in 2009 when he and then Prime Minister Sir John Key’s Government announced they had each paid $20m to buy the wharf from (then) Ports of Auckland.
John Banks, Auckland City Council Mayor at the time, also played a hand in the wharf coming into public ownership.
At the time it was used for landing cars and bananas, and subsequently came to be called the “people’s wharf”.
Auckland City Mayor John Banks (left) and Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee at Queens Wharf in 2009. Photo / Martin Sykes
Lee told the Herald that since 2009, questionable industrial structures have slowly started sprawling around Queens Wharf.
“I don’t have confidence in the project. The technology [for electric ferries] is reasonably new and experimental. Just leave the wharf for people to have passive recreation,” he said.
An assessment of the project by engineers Tonkin + Taylor for AT, said the effects on the historic heritage are no more than minor with no adverse effects on the historic “Red Fence”.
The assessment said the “infrastructure architecture” is appropriate for the site, and the charging infrastructure allows for continued maritime use of the wharf.
It said Heritage New Zealand’s preference is to reinstate another historic cargo shed, Shed 11, on the western side of the wharf, or build a structure modelled on the historic wharf sheds.
Auckland is set to get electric ferries from the end of next year.
This was looked at, said Tonkin + Taylor, but potentially required wharf strengthening, extra maintenance and fire protection measures, and could impact future stages of charging infrastructure.
“Visual and landscape effects are considered low, with design efforts made to ensure compatibility with the surrounding environment,” the consent application said.
Public submissions on the resource consent close on December 19.
Bernard Orsman is an award-winning reporter who has been covering Auckland’s local politics and transport since 1998. Before that, he worked in the parliamentary press gallery for six years.
