Council plans to spend $55m on Auckland ferry basin

Friday, 29 September 2017

Proposed changes to the ferry basin at downtown Auckland are expensive and illogical, says Mike Lee.

A $55 million revamp of Auckland's downtown ferry basin is planned within the next four to six years.

The plans include removing piers one and two, where ferries depart for Waiheke and Devonport, and replacing them with a new pier and terminal buildings on Queens Wharf.

Council planning committee chairperson Chris Darby said the new pier off Queens Wharf would have 12 ferry berths and could include travelators to transport people to Queen Street more quickly and easily.

'The new ferry terminal will be very contemporary in its design. The qualities it delivers will be something you would expect from a facility like Britomart train station or an airport,' Darby said.

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Funds for the ferry basin upgrade have not been allocated by the council and will be considered as part of its 10 year budget, which will be finalised in 2018.

Darby said six million passengers caught ferries across all the Auckland services in the past year and more downtown ferry berths are needed to make room for growth.

'There's going to be severe congestion in the ferry basin in five years - there's congestion now.

'I'm confident the ferry basin redevelopment will rise to the top as a priority,' he said.

The cloud would be removed from Queens Wharf as part of the changes.

Piers three and four would be pulled out first to develop a 'Quay Street public realm' at the western end of the historic ferry building.

Darby said pier three obstructs the view of the harbour from the waterfront.

Waitemata and Gulf councillor Mike Lee, who lives on Waiheke, has slammed the 'crazy' plans to remove the downtown ferry terminal and piers and build new ones.

'There's been a cascade of bad decisions and I don't believe the cost can be justified,' Lee said.

The council is also planning to improve public space on the waterfront with $27.2 million raised by selling Queen Elizabeth Square to Precinct Properties.

The sea wall along Quay Street is failing and needs to be upgraded 'pretty quickly', Darby said.

Lee said land reclamation is planned in the ferry basin to create the new recreation space, which is intended to replace Queen Elizabeth Square.

Auckland people protested against Ports of Auckland's plans to extend Bledisloe Wharf for commercial reasons and Lee said reclaiming the harbour for recreational reasons was no better.

'We need to stop reclaiming the harbour for whatever reasons and by whomever.

'The concerns are aesthetic as much as environmental, but you are changing the marine environment into a reclaimed environment.

'Encroaching on the ferry basin will make it more difficult for ferries to manoeuvre and for cruise ships to berth at Princes Wharf,' he said.

Lee is also critical of the council's plans to move cruise ships from Princes Wharf onto an extended Captain Cook wharf.

'It's going to cost an enormous amount of money and I don't see the sense of it.'

A council report on the plans stated this would provide better berthing facilities for an increasing number of cruise ships and for larger vessels.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said investing in the city centre and waterfront is important because 20 per cent of Auckland's gross domestic product is created in the city centre.

'More than 40,000 people live there and the daytime population reaches several hundred thousand people with the daily influx of tourists, students and workers.'

The America's Cup yacht race is expected to be hosted in Auckland in 2021, so the council is waiting for news from central government and Emirates Team New Zealand on potential developments for this event.

'We are exploring suitable locations on Auckland's waterfront to host the cup, while looking at creating a lasting legacy for Aucklanders,' Goff said.