Comments today from the Minister of Transport, Steven Joyce about the CBD rail tunnel and rail link to airport projects don’t sound as if he’s buying them.
Today’s Herald has an article about the changes happening to Auckland’s local government management and how control of transport issues will shift more towards Wellington.
Of interest to us are words buried in there from the Minister about his views on future rail development and those projects many of us see as a priority.
Joyce says improving the highway between Auckland and Whangarei is a very important project…. “Rail projects are important as well but with the urban ones, we need to know the impact on the land use planning in Auckland.
“For instance, with the CBD rail tunnel, it’s not enough to say “we want one.”
It’s a big investment so what’s the impact on where people live in Auckland, what’s the population density changes along the rail corridors? There’s no business case or plans which say ‘here’s where we’re going to put the two million people we’re told are going to live in Auckland in 22 years time.’
Similarly with the rail link to the airport. You can’t just put it there and not have the land use planning changes to match it. It’s very sensitive stuff when you start changing population or housing densities. They need to have that discussions with the community.
The Government has a national perspective and the regional transport committee seems to have a view which is all about central Auckland.
I think they will have to thinking more about the Rodneys and Franklins and have a wider view of Auckland’s place in relation to Northland and Waikato and the Bay of Plenty as well.
I’m hoping that under the new arrangements when you have one team of councillors, that they are able to take the wider view.”
The regional council chairman Mike Lee’s reaction to these comments is to say that what will help traffic congestions are new fast clearn electric rail units.
“But the minister has deliberately held this up by diverting the agreed funding from Auckland rail rapid transit to his pet $2.3 billion holiday home project.”
The minister is in his rights to raise town planning overview issues for a city where planning has been so haphazard, Auckland suffers from any sort of well-laid out well-thought out blueprint for services and communities.
But it doesn’t sound hopeful if he thinks people have just invented a couple of good sounding ideas without the research he demands to justify them.
Am I reading too much into this or does it sound as if the sub-text is, as some of us have feared, you’ll get electrification but forget about any more expensive rail projects as the money will go into development of major highways or inter-city roading routes in the North Island?
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9 Responses to “Joyce Unconvinced About CBD Rail Tunnel”
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Roads roads roads. Roads roads roads. Economic justifications out the window, serious comparisons are unthinkable, they got electric what are they whinging about, roads roads roads.
You’ve just experienced 20 seconds in the thought patterns of Stephen Joyce.
There werent enough of the word roads in there George. The only word certain people know and believe in.
The funny thing is that Joyce is actually providing an excellent argument for the CBD rail tunnel over the “holiday highway”, he just hasn’t realised it yet. Clearly, the CBD rail tunnel will have far better urban planning outcomes than the holiday highway – as it will encourage intensification around the rail network – far more sustainable than sprawl to the north.
The land use planning and higher densities that he speaks of which need consultation with the community have already been done (mostly). The Auckland Regional Growth Strategy 1999 laid out a blue print for intensification around trasport nodes and corridors (mainly railway stations). The Local Government (Auckland) Amendment Bill 2003 requires that local authorities adopt this strategy which they have been by allowing higher densitiy development around these priority growth areas. Namely, Waitakere City has established 500m radius medium desity housing areas around all of the train stations in its jurisdiction. Unfortunatly we haven’t seen much of an uptake in the market for this, but I have a feeling that this is due the rapid rail system we need still is not quite there yet. Which begs to reason why Joyce says that the land use planning isn’t there yet?
Also, good point Jarbury.
No, Joyce will not invest in either the CBD rail tunnel or the airport link, regardless of what the cost benefit analysis comes out as. If he could get away with it he would ditch electrification in a heartbeat.
As Jarbury and others have pointed out the land use planning is there and has been for a few years now by the ARC. However most people don’t know this so he can continue to go on saying this as it sounds perfctly reasonable to most people and no journalist pulls him up on it.
Post electrification there will be no further investment in Auckland’s metro rail system under this government. End of story there is no point in pretending otherwise. They are not, and never will be interested in spening money there. The depressing fact is that as these guys will serve at least 2 terms there will be no extentions to the Auckland rail system for probably well over a decade. I’d bet everything the Puhoi road to nowhere will be well underway before any further rail expansion in Auckland.
A Len Brown council might shake things up. There’d be interesting fights with Wellington. A Banks one would cement our doom.
Yeah i agree a real pro PT mayor (not Banks) would at least keep the pressure on.
Yes like the extensive consultation with the community that happened before telling them Waterview would be above ground land rather than below it… Lots of consultation of the land use then…
Sigh, why aren’t Labour and in particular the Greens hammering this guy like Lee is..?
Exactly Jezza. So depressing that neither Labour or the Greeens are making a song and dance about this. Does this mean that Phil Goff is a non-believer as well and even if Labour got back in at the next election nothing much would change? From their inaction on this I would have to assume so.