Report backing new Auckland port over Northport 'a disgrace', Northlanders say

Tuesday, 7 July 2020

A report which favours moving Ports of Auckland to a new port at Manukau Harbour instead of the previously recommended Northport is full of errors, critics say.

Northland leaders also continue to back Northport as the logical replacement for the cramped Auckland ports, despite Tuesday’s report saying it would not have the capacity needed in the long term.

The report, prepared by consultants Sapere for the Ministry of Transport, scuppers the idea of Northland taking Auckland’s freight and up to 2000 extra jobs a year, worth up to $2.7 billion over 30 years.

There are fears large ships will not be able to enter Manukau Harbour as they can at the deep-water Northport in Whangārei’s Marsden Point.

It said a new port on the Manukau Harbour would be the least expensive option, have the least environmental impact and would be closer to markets in south Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.

**READ MORE:

“We deserve better”: Wayne Brown has not held back in his criticism of a new report backing Ports of Auckland moving to Manukau Harbour.

* Auckland Port should move to Manukau report says, but Government defers decision

* Manukau, not Northland for Auckland's port: leaked report

The Manukau Harbour is shallow and on the West Coast of the North Island.

* Claims Ports of Auckland move to Whangārei is impractical just 'snobbery'

* Auckland port move to Northland would take more than 30 years, Northport says

Kaipara Mayor Dr Jason Smith believes using Manukau Harbour for shipping will be too difficult.

It also said there is no sound basis for excluding Manukau Harbour due to either its bar entrance or location on the West Coast, with experts saying a dredged and maintained channel would be viable.

But former Far North mayor Wayne Brown, who led the Government-backed working party favouring a move to Northport, said the new report was “error-filled” and “a disgrace”.

The Manukau Harbour is a shallow harbour with a dangerous shifting sand bar at the entrance, no spare land for onshore port operations and is on the wrong side of the island for big freighters passing from China to South America, Brown said.

“On top of that, maritime insurers are not at all keen to cover shipping over the Manukau bar.”

Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones previously said he favoured the move to Northport.

Brown stood by his report recommending the $10 billion shift to Northport, officially called the Final Report of the Upper North Island Supply Chain Strategy Working Group, which came after interviews with 80 industry groups.

Kaipara Mayor Dr Jason Smith also backs Brown’s report, saying use of the Manukau Harbour could relegate New Zealand to coastal shipping from Australia rather than being able to take larger ships.

“The Manukau Harbour’s very shallow, so why would you use a shallow harbour that will have to be dredged and cause significant environmental issues, when you have a natural deep-water facility [at Northport]?”

All three of Northland’s mayors have personally backed the move north as part of five major infrastructure projects to ensure the economic prosperity in Northland over the next 100 years.

Smith said the area between Whangārei and Auckland had the “greatest potential” for new development and growth in all of New Zealand.

If the port move did not go ahead, it would be a big blow to Northland’s economy, according to Barry Trass from Prosper Northland Trust.

The region is worried about job losses as Refining NZ considers stopping refining at Marsden Point in the future, which could impact some of its 400 employees, plus contractors.

Trass said the merits of moving the port to Northland’s deep-water port outweighed the merit of moving it elsewhere.

Regional Economic Development Minister and New Zealand First’s Northland candidate Shane Jones said the port move was likely to become an election issue.

He recently battered a report by the National Road Carriers Association – which found moving Ports of Auckland to Northland would be impractical, prohibitively expensive, increase greenhouse gas emissions and add to traffic congestion – as “snobbery” against Northland.

He also said Manukau Harbour’s entrance was “the most treacherous bar” in the country.

But Jones was more diplomatic on Tuesday, saying in a joint press release with Transport Minister Phil Twyford that it will be up to a future government to decide a preferred location.

“This new report provides valuable insights that will help inform future decisions on this complex and significant issue,” Jones said.