Wednesday 14 September 2016
For Immediate Release

Central Rail Link could be stopped by new Auckland council

Although the Government has announced today that it will contribute to the cost of Auckland’s Central Rail Link (CRL), one Council candidate, David Rankin (who is standing in the Waitakere Ward) believes that the new council could scuttle the entire scheme.

“Depending on how the voting goes, it’s possible that there will be enough councilors opposed to the CRL in the new Council to at least enable us to press pause and assess the viability of this massive expenditure of ratepayer money,” he says.

Mr Rankin is a firm opponent of the CRL, believing that the costs will outweigh any marginal benefits the link will bring, and that it is diverting money from roads, which he describes as “the commercial and social arteries of the city – if they get clogged, the last thing you do is divert finds away from them. Instead, you widen them and assist their flow.”

Mr Rankin’s other main objection to the CRL is that it will pile on the debt that Aucklanders will have to pay for decades to come, even though up to 98% of the city’s residents will derive no benefit from the scheme. “The CRL is a classic example of the masses supporting a plaything for the wealthy few, with no consideration given to the fiscal effects,” he says.

He predicts that if the new Council does not put a halt to the CRL, the city could be placed into liquidation. “We have seen what happened to Detroit, and there is a risk that if costs continue to mount for the CRL, the same could happen here,” he warns.

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