Auckland Unitary Plan needs to provide for growth of Port

Auckland Unitary Plan needs to provide for growth of Port

Media Statement
4 February 2015

"An NZIER report released today on Ports of Auckland (POAL) capacity shows that if the Council's expectations for export growth and increased earnings are to be met, then the proposed Unitary Plan will have to allow flexibility to increase port productivity," says Stephen Selwood of the NZ Council for Infrastructure Development.

"The Auckland Council has set demanding objectives for the port, including a 12 per cent per annum return on equity, and even more ambitious targets for regional economic performance. The Auckland Plan envisions 6 per cent per annum increases in exports and 5 per cent per annum increases in economic growth every year for the next 30 years - both of which are dependent upon port performance.

"Adding further to pressures on the port, the economic development division of the Council, ATEED, anticipates annual cruise ship visits to increase 30 per cent over the next five years and 60 per cent to 2030.

"Using much more conservative estimates of container growth than would be required to achieve the objectives of the Auckland Plan, NZIER demonstrate that by the mid-2030s container capacity on the currently consented port footprint will be exhausted.

"But NZIER also note that if productivity projections do not eventuate or if growth is stronger than expected the port may require expansion as early as next decade.

"Compounding the challenge, accommodating additional growth in cruise ships will require more frequent use of wharves currently used for general cargo. NZIER conclude that 'POAL would carry significant commercial risks releasing Captain Cook and Marsden Wharves, without a reasonable degree of certainty about the Bledisloe extension being possible.'

"Currently the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan defines any additional reclamation around the port as 'non-complying'. At the very least this should revert to the existing designation under the operative plan which provides for any additional reclamation to be 'discretionary'.

"This would still mean reclamation requires a resource consent and would bring regulation around the port back into line with other ports across New Zealand.

"If the Council wants a competitive port providing jobs, an acceptable return on investment, higher exports to reduce Auckland's dependency on consumption and more cruise ships bringing high wealth tourists into downtown Auckland, it must allow the port to grow.

"That growth is not going to happen tomorrow, but POAL will need to initiate the consenting process within the life of the first Unitary Plan if it is to have any chance of meeting the Council's targets," Selwood says.

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