Row over design rights for Auckland's Skypath

Tuesday, 26 February 2019

An artist impression of the Skypath Trust's design for the Harbour Bridge addition

Plans for Skypath, a cycle path and walkway on Auckland's Harbour Bridge, have become mired in a dispute over design rights worth nearly $2 million.

The trust which ran the project until it was taken over by NZTA said the agency had gone quiet over discussions on buying the intellectual property and design work for the concept.

'NZTA is using SkyPath Trust's design without the legal right to do so,' said Bevan Woodward, the trust's project director.

SkyPath project director Bevan Woodward says plans to review designs is a 'ploy to delay SkyPath'.

'We need to do more work before we know the right design to take forward,' countered NZTA's Brett Gliddon, the general manager of system design and delivery.

* Government announces it will fund and build SkyPath along Auckland Harbour Bridge

* Transport advocate says SkyPath news 'huge' for Auckland**

Gliddon said NZTA was 'reviewing the design options.'

The concept of a 4-metre-wide cyclepath and walkway, made from composite materials and bolted onto the bridge, had been driven by the trust, which commissioned design and engineering work.

Resource consent was granted at the end of 2016, and in August 2018, the Government announced it would fund and build SkyPath as part of a $390m investment in walking and cycling projects nationwide.

'Very good progress' was being made on SkyPath until late last year, Woodward said, but had stalled since then.

NZTA had ceased all communications with SkyPath Trust and its design team, and they only found out about a design review through a media release, Woodward claimed.

The trust had told NZTA it required $1.6m plus GST for its intellectual property to repay those who had worked on the project.

Woodward said NZTA in a November 2018 email had asked whether it would accept 25 per cent up front and the balance once NZTA had approved the business case.

This week, NZTA said it was still working through that process, and construction could start at the earliest in late 2020.

'So far, the business case process has been looking at a number of design options that could be possible,' said Gliddon in a statement.

The agency said funding was already included in the National Land Transport Plan, and NZTA's board would consider the business case by mid-year.

Woodward, in a letter to the Transport Minister Phil Twyford, has called the agency's action 'a ploy to delay Skypath'.

He called on Transport Minister Phil Twyford to ensure NZTA focused on delivering SkyPath as consented.

Any changes to the design would require reopening the resource consent application, he said.

If this was denied, it could mean 'Aucklanders never see SkyPath,' said Woodward.

NZTA said more would be known once the business case was complete, which would recommend which option to take forward.

'We want to get it right the first time, including the right width so more people can use it without restrictions, as well as the best materials to build the structure,' said Gliddon.