Auckland City Rail Link: Albert St shop owners get back-up in fight for payouts

Tuesday, 30 July 2019

A cluster of 'financially broke' Albert St businesses struggling to survive beside drawn-out City Rail Link (CRL) construction works should be paid for their losses, Auckland councillors say.

A hardship fund to help them out could be on the cards, if agreement can be reached between the council and the Government.

At least six Albert St owners have shut up shop due to disruptions caused by the $4.4 billion project, according to Shakespeare Hotel owner Sunny Kaushal, who is leading the businesses' increasingly bitter fight for financial relief.

​The owners, some of whom have unsuccessfully tried to sell up, are blaming long-running CRL works for their struggles. 

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* Cancer-stricken CRL neighbour struggling to sell for third of purchase price

* Struggle street: $3.4b City Rail Link refuses Auckland businesses' cries for help**

To date, the Government, Auckland Council and City Rail Link Ltd itself have ignored the owners' pleas – CRLL suggested businesses seek legal advice, while Mayor Phil Goff believed compensation would be poor use of ratepayers' money.

Transport Minister Phil Twyford this week remained adamant cash payments were not being considered.

Building owners could consider reducing rents, he said, given the huge increases in property values they would see upon CRL's completion.

But on Tuesday, Goff told Stuff he was proposing a targeted hardship fund to help small businesses that are facing 'exceptional' hardship because of the disruption.

Goff said he spoke to Twyford on July 19 and told him that he believed his proposal had merit.

'As co-sponsor of CRLL, Government agreement would be needed for CRLL to establish such a fund,' Goff said.

'The minister will have to consult with his colleagues before coming back on this.

'No Government past or present has been willing to pay compensation. However, I think a smaller, more targeted hardship fund is different. We'll wait and see what the minister comes back with.'

On Tuesday, a sprinkling of Auckland councillors met with disgruntled business owners at the Shakespeare Hotel.

Waitematā and Gulf Ward Councillor Mike Lee said there was a solution – business owners in Sydney had been paid millions of dollars for disruptions caused by delays to the city's light rail project.

'That is where businesses that have been impacted by the light rail project over there due to delays, not because they started building light rail but because they delayed the project much longer than has been promised,' Lee said.

'Forget about who's going to pay, whether it's the council, whether it's the Government, CRLL Ltd, which is owned by both, should pay.'

Lee said he had to tread carefully, given councillors represented the interests of all ratepayers.

'But you've got a fair case and I'm confident that we can come up with a fair process, a rigorous process to assess your claims and give you a fair settlement.'

Kaushal told councillors Lee, Sharon Stewart, Christine Fletcher, John Watson, Wayne Walker, Desley Simpson and Craig Sayers that Albert St had become 'isolated and abandoned'.

The affected businesses were essentially 'financially broke'.

'The debts are mounting to an unsustainable level,' Kaushal said.

'The banks now consider this street as a high risk, they have stopped lending or extending overdrafts.'

North Shore councillors Watson and Walker said they were aware of business owners getting compensation for losses caused by the Northern Corridor Improvements project.

'All of the businesses affected have had their accounts checked, their profit, their turnover,' Walker said.

'In instances where compensation has had to be paid to compensate those businesses, because they haven't been able to shift, that has happened.'

However, NZTA rejected the claim and said it was not accurate to compare the NCI project with the CRL. 'NZTA has not compensated any businesses just for operating  alongside the NCI project area,' a spokesman said.

'The project has purchased properties affected by the NCI designation (that's the identified corridor of land required for the project) and relocated or compensated affected businesses that were no longer able to stay in their original premises. The settlement package comes under Section 68 of the Public Works Act.'

Auckland Central MP Nikki​ Kaye said the impact of the delayed Albert St works 'has been so significant that a small package should be developed for businesses'.

'There are now reports that Auckland Council has sent a concept proposal to the Government, which sounds positive,' she said.

CRLL chief executive Sean Sweeney earlier confirmed the Albert St works were 'some months' behind schedule.

In June, CRLL stated construction of the tunnels under Albert St was due to finish in July.

Backfilling the tunnel trench would be completed in October, meaning reinstatement of the first section of Albert St could start at end of winter and be completed in 2020. 

Sweeney told Stuff while the end was near for CRL works at the harbour end of Albert St, construction on other sections of the project was ramping up.

'Further disruption will be unavoidable, but we are committed to minimising impacts and working with our partners to keep traffic, particularly bus services, moving through our work sites,' he said.

The overall CRL project is due to be completed by the end of 2024.