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Auckland
Development Committee
01 April 2015
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Future of Ports
of Auckland Study
File No.: CP2015/05041
Purpose
1. To approve the bringing forward
of the expected timing of what has been referred to as the “Ports Stage II
Study”.
2. The report also outlines the
broad objectives of the study.
Executive
Summary
3. Given renewed interest and
concerns about the effects of port expansion on the Waitemata Harbour, the
Auckland Development Committee is requested to bring forward the commencement
of the Port Stage II Study from its current timeframe post the Unitary Plan.
4. The Committee is requested to
direct the Chief Executive to initially focus on the study design and draft
study scope, to be approved by the Committee before the actual study commences.
5. For the purpose of this report,
“study design” relates to processes for stakeholder involvement,
engagement and governance structures and their terms of reference, resourcing,
timing etc. The term “scope” refers specifically to the study – which
will be technical in nature and undertaken by experts - and what is to be
included in the study.
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Recommendation/s
That the Auckland Development
Committee:
a) pursuant to standing order
3.10.17, revoke resolution APC/2013/45:
h) agree
that early scoping work on a study of the economic, environmental and
cultural impacts and opportunities for Maori be reported back to the Auckland
Plan Committee in August 2013, and if required, any future Stage 2 work
relating to wider issues of port location and distribution in the Upper North
Island is to be undertaken at a later time, post the Unitary Plan.
and replace it with:
h) commence the Port Stage II
Study, with the broad objective of scoping the economic, environmental and
cultural impacts, of the port and its associated freight movements through
Auckland, the opportunities for Maori, the wider issue of port location and
freight distribution in the Upper North Island, the relationship between the
port and Auckland’s urban form and the benefits and costs, including
opportunity costs, of options considered.
b) direct the Chief Executive to
commence the design of the study and its associated processes.
c) note that the study should
include collaborative stakeholder input at each critical stage, including the
study’s scope, and that the council will make decisions on any matters
arising from the study.
d) request that the study design,
including resourcing requirements and a draft study scope be reported back to
the Committee for its approval as soon as possible, prior to the actual study
commencing.
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Comments
6. In December 2012, the Regional
Development and Operations Committee resolved:
“… in the follow up to the UNISA port study, give
consideration to the timing of the Stage 2 report including to scope and
undertake an examination of options for freight movement through Auckland
including consideration of the relationship between the port and Auckland’s
urban form and the opportunity cost of each option” (Resolution number
RDO/2012/244, 6 December 2012).
7. In April 2013, the Auckland Plan
Committee made a number of resolutions regarding the Ports of Auckland Limited,
including resolution h) that modified the 2012 Regional Development and
Operations Committee resolution:
“…that early scoping work on a
study of the economic, environmental and cultural impacts and opportunities for
Maori be reported back to the Auckland Plan Committee in August 2013, and if
required, any future Stage 2 work relating to wider issues of port location and
distribution in the Upper North Island is to be undertaken at a later time,
post the Unitary Plan” (Resolution number APC/2013/45, 16 April 2013). The
full resolution is included as Attachment A.
8. In addition, in
August 2013 the Auckland Plan committee resolved to endorse non-complying
activity status for any further reclamation beyond current consented activity
within the port precinct. It also endorsed a “review of the Port precinct
provisions at the conclusion of the pending stage 2 Port study” (Resolution
Number APC/2013/70).
9. In August 2014,
a study was commissioned and undertaken by the New Zealand Institute of
Economic Research (NZIER). The focus of this study was to address the more
immediate need for council’s position on rules on reclamation within the port
precinct to be clarified as it entered mediation and hearings on the Proposed
Unitary Plan. This report was tabled at the Auckland Development Committee on
12 February 2015. The Committee subsequently established the position it will
take in the Unitary Plan process. It should be noted that the NZIER report
addressed a narrower question of how long the port could operate within its
current footprint, with or without the need for reclamation. This study was not
intended to remove the need for a longer-term study as referred to in the April
2013 Auckland Plan Committee resolution.
10. Currently a number of events – in
particular community concerns about the effects of port expansion on the
Waitemata Harbour - have renewed calls for a full “Stage II” report to give
effect to the April 2013 Auckland Plan Committee resolution above.
11. As noted, the 16 April 2012
resolution of the Auckland Plan Committee stated that the full Stage II study
was to commence post the Unitary Plan process, i.e. towards the end of 2016.
12. The Mayor now requests that the
Auckland Development Committee amend that timing, so that the study can
commence immediately.
13. To clarify, the broad objective
of the study is to fully investigate and report to the Auckland Council on the
most effective means of meeting Auckland's import and export needs in terms of
their economic, social and environmental costs and benefits. For illustrative
purposes, this would likely include considering the use of alternative port
arrangements and assessing the implication of these in terms of impact on
import costs, employment and economic growth, road and rail freight volumes and
distribution, adequacy of alternative port and transport infrastructure, and
the effects of any changes to these on Auckland's urban, rural and natural
environment.
14. It is important that the council,
stakeholders and wider community see the study as credible and definitive in
providing a basis on which the Council can, as owner of Ports of Auckland,
decide on the port’s long-term future including its size, location and role in
the economy.
15. To be credible, the study design
needs to be transparent and have meaningful input from all reasonably
interested stakeholders. There should also be opportunities for the wider
community to provide their views on the study’s findings.
16. Because stakeholders should be
involved in all critical stages of the study, this report deliberately does not
set out any detail, as the process itself and the scope of the study need to be
developed in collaboration with others. In this sense, the study design is
expected to have similarities to the approach used by the Consensus Building
Group on alternative funding for transport. It should be noted that, at the
completion of the study, it will be the council that makes decision on any
matters arising from the study.
17. The Committee is therefore asked
to approve commencement of the study, with initial focus on the study design.
This will, amongst others, require the design of an inclusive collaborative
process, development of a draft study scope, identification of funding
requirements and a budget, and reporting these elements back to the Auckland
Development Committee for its approval as soon as possible.
18. Note that for the purpose of this
report, “study design” relates to processes for stakeholder involvement,
engagement and governance structures and their terms of reference, resourcing,
timing etc. The term “scope” refers specifically to the study – which
will be technical in nature and undertaken by experts - and what is to be
included in the study.
Consideration
Local
Board views and implications
19. The views of Local Boards have
not specifically been taken into account for the purposes of this report, other
than the extent they were accounted for in the original resolutions of the
Regional Development and Operations Committee and Auckland Plan Committee in
2012 and 2013 respectively. The nature of Local Board input in the study will
be clarified during the study design stage and reported to the Committee.
Māori
impact statement
20. The views of neither Māori
nor the Independent Māori Statutory Board have specifically been taken
into account for the purposes of this report, other than the extent they were
accounted for in the original resolutions of the Regional Development and
Operations Committee and Auckland Plan Committee in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
The long-term future of the port has a significant impact on mana whenua both
in a cultural and economic sense. It is therefore anticipated that mana whenua
will play a notable role in the Stage II process and study. The nature of this
role will be clarified during the study design stage and reported to the
Committee.
Implementation
21. Implementation matters, such as
resourcing, budgets and timeframes, will be clarified during the study design
stage and reported to the Committee prior to the actual study commencing.
Attachments
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No.
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Title
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Page
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aView
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Resolution number APC/2013/45 - 16 April 2013 Auckland
Plan Committee
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9
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Signatories
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Author
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Jacques Victor - GM Auckland Plan Strategy and
Research
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Authoriser
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Roger Blakeley - Chief Planning Officer
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