28 July 2011

Mayor must fess up and ditch two big rail promises

Auckland Councillor Cameron Brewer says Auckland Mayor Len Brown needs to be honest with the public and admit rail to the Auckland Airport in nine years and rail to Albany in 14 years will not be delivered, despite his insistent campaign promises last year.

At a full council meeting today, the Mayor threw out an amendment by Mr Brewer, during an item on advancing the City Rail Link's heads of agreement, claiming it was not relevant to the motion under discussion. The amendment read:

"That the Auckland Council focuses on advancing the City Rail Link and confirms that the airport rail link by 2020, and the Albany rail link, under the Waitemata Harbour, by 2025 are not priority projects for councillors and are very unlikely to be delivered in the previously promised timeframes."

Speaking to the amendment, Mr Brewer argued that the $2.4b City Rail Link, and securing the necessary funding, is a big enough challenge for the council, with the other two mayoral promises proving to be a distraction, and costing credibility with the Government and the public.

"Privately all councillors believe Len Brown cannot deliver on his election promises to deliver rail to the airport and Albany anywhere near those timeframes. This administration now needs to be honest with the public and admit these campaign promises cannot and will not be delivered.

"Trying to quietly push them off the agenda and out of the Mayor's speech notes is disrespectful to the many people who voted on those promises being delivered. This is the worst kept secret in Auckland. Let's do the right thing, make it official, and move forward," says Cameron Brewer.

Ends

© Scoop Media