The highlighting of a risk to funding future for cycling and walking projects in Auckland has been called “an error” and been removed by the council from a new budget proposal just hours after it was released.
The projects had been highlighted by Auckland Transport (AT) in a list of “impacts” should the council have to cut project spending by $250 million over three years from 2023, due to a Covid-19 revenue and costs hit.
However, that list changed soon after the mayor Phil Goff spoke in “strong terms” with both AT’s chair Adrienne Young-Cooper, and Mark Laing, the finance general manager.
The risks were in the mayor’s proposed council budget for the year starting in July, and the scramble highlights the tension between worsening council finances, and its promises on climate change action, with Goff promoting a climate action targeted rate.
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Some of the Goff-directed changes are semantics, with a 30% “reduction” in the cycling and walking Connected Communities programme, now being called a “deferral”.
An AT reference to a 15% reduction in the “Urban Cycleway Programme and ongoing cycling programmes” has been removal entirely, and other “reductions” have become “deferrals”.
The mayor’s office said the cycling items were not on material supplied by AT on Friday, but were on a list produced late on Tuesday as the budget document was being prepared for release.
Stuff reported on future funding risks from the budget document supplied by the mayor’s office on Wednesday morning, as councillors assembled for their first look at it.
JASON DORDAY/Stuff
The Northwest Cycleway in Auckland is one of the busiest in the country. (file photo)
Goff got on the phone, and in a statement to Stuff said “AT responded by immediately acknowledging the error and rectifying it”.
In a one-line statement, Laing simply said: “Unfortunately there were some errors in the supporting documents which have now been corrected.”
Goff insisted that the bottom line on what could be deferred into future years, had been made clear to AT.
“While deferrals are necessary to address the financial challenges caused by Covid-19, these cannot conflict with the objectives of the Climate Action Targeted Rate: enhancing public and active transport to reduce emissions,” he said.
Alden Williams/Stuff
Auckland mayor Phil Goff said he gave his views on the error “in strong terms”.
“This was an error that should not have happened,” said Goff.
“I conveyed my view on that to AT in strong terms. I have received an apology from AT’s board chair who also reaffirmed AT’s commitment to delivering on the council’s climate objectives.”
This year’s council budget looks safe, thanks to a one-off payment from the government of $127 million, as part of the Three Water reforms that will remove water and stormwater from council ownership.
But officials said delays and cuts to $250 million of capital spending over the following three years, may be needed, and ways needed to be found to plug a gap of up to $150m a year in operating costs.
The council said the projected fiscal hit over coming years had doubled in the past few months, due to rising material and borrowing costs, higher inflation and ongoing revenue weakness.
