I’ve ticked off one of the biggest things on my to-do list to fix Auckland: I’ve got agreement from all councillors, bar one, on a Long-term Plan (LTP) for Auckland over the next ten years.
I’m resolute and determined, but I’m also not afraid to compromise, as a good leader should be when a better solution presents itself. I don’t care about political affiliation; I care about commonsense and logic.
This LTP has been based on identifying the problems and looking at the solutions to fix Auckland. The biggest of which have been getting our books in order and stopping the overspend, making the most of what we have, and strengthening the physical and financial resilience of our future Auckland.
And it’s been done a little differently. This LTP was Mayor and Councillor-led, which started with a direction to the council group from us about what our priorities were. As well as my “central” proposal for consultation, I also included options to do less and charge less or do more and charge more.
We received broad support from the public for the direction of our plan. We’ve listened to you and have largely done what you asked.
We have already fixed a lot. We have made a deal with the central government that ensures water rates remain affordable while still delivering the full programme of water infrastructure improvements. We have got on with essential recovery work from last year’s extreme weather events and our flood recovery plan, which is almost complete.
When we look to our waterfront, we now have a tripartite agreement that sees port workers at the table, and our port operator commit to making more money than the leasing option proposed. So, I’m happy. Based on those numbers, it will go from being one of the worst-performing ports in the world to being pretty good.
My Transport funding boost will include the capped $50 weekly public transport pass for buses, trains, and inner harbour ferries, along with extending AT’s pilot fareshare programme to all businesses with more than five employees. We are funding a further $10 million in additional public transport funding to improve bus services and track maintenance. This proposal still requires Auckland Transport to find $60 million in savings so it can manage cost pressures. The final proposal passed includes a capital funding increase for Auckland Transport, up from the $13.4 billion central proposal we consulted on to a $14 billion capital programme. The extra spend will work to make public transport faster and more reliable and enable the completion of the next four critical level crossing removals in Takanini, which have been identified by Auckland Transport as the top priority for additional transport capital spending. There is also a new one-off capital grant to boost the safety of bus drivers by funding the installation of safety screens to protect drivers.
We will forge ahead with the Auckland Future Fund to improve Auckland’s financial and physical resilience. Capitalised with AIAL shares initially, this fund is expected to provide us with an additional $400 million over the 10 years of the LTP, an annual benefit of $40 million for ratepayers. A note: these shares did not give us some magical control over the airport, and they brought in less than a personal savings account would return, so opposition was emotional rather than financial.
This revised Future Fund essentially enables us to “swap” a single asset for a diversified asset portfolio that can be expected to provide a higher and steadier expected rate of return and be more resilient to shocks that impact council’s other assets.
My view is that the Future Fund honours the legacy of the councils that retained airport shares by making sure we provide for future generations. It means that legacy continues and can be improved upon.
We have found enough money to support the consensus for the fairer funding of local boards. Fairer funding is about just that. It is based on population, deprivation, and land area (80:15:5), as opposed to assets, which disproportionately divvy up money between local boards based on the number and quality of the assets they already have (more assets = more funding). Most local boards will receive more funding than they do under the current funding model. No local board is getting their funding cut. But with this extra funding, the focus will be on the value for money that local boards get for their communities when they spend this money.
I've managed to get agreement on even better rates for you. The average Auckland residential property rates will increase by 6.8 percent in the first year of the LTP—much lower than other major councils and lower than what we consulted on. I will keep on my mission to keep rates as low as possible while getting on with what is needed.
We need to think ahead, over and above our emotional political attachments. I think this vote shows that, and I thank councillors, local boards, and Houkura for working with me to deliver this plan.
