• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Port of Auckland Plans to Develop Harbour Land

Posted on: Saturday, 27 August 2005, 15:00 CDT

PORTS of Auckland will soon make public its ideas to turn 18 hectares of industrial land on the western end of the harbour into a mixed residential zone.

"We're going to get one chance to get it right and we want to make it something we can all be hugely proud of," chairman Neville Darrow said.

A new gateway area for New Zealand could be created in the area known as the Western Reclamation or "tank farm".

Unusual items in this year's port profit included $5.1 million for the development of concept plans for the area and for restructuring of marine service activities. The port did not break out the cost of the plans from that total, but said the public would be consulted on the concepts when they were issued about September 10.

The port reported yesterday a $42.4 million profit in the year to June 30, excluding unusual items. This was down from $44.3 million last year. Last year's figure included $2.7 million earnings from marinas that have since been sold back to Auckland City. The bottom- line profit fell to $38.6 million from $57.2 million.

Auckland's port is the biggest in New Zealand and is 100 per cent owned by Auckland Regional Holdings, the commercial arm of Auckland Regional Council. ARH said its dividend would be announced later. Mr Darrow said the port would continue to issue its profits publicly and by law it had to be run as a commercial enterprise.

There was no news of changes to port calls by shipping lines, or about a project investigating shifting secondhand imported cars from the port on specially designed two-tier trains.

The port is also expanding its main container terminals at the eastern end of the harbour in a big reclamation. Overall, container volumes fell 2.7 per cent after the port lost a service providing 50,000 standard-sized containers, or 8 per cent of its volume. It has since picked up three new services providing 35,000 containers a year.

It is believed that as well as the Western Reclamation, ideas are being explored for connecting the Britomart transport centre to the harbour front.

For the Western Reclamation to be developed, zoning will have to be changed from industrial to mixed residential. Consideration will also have to be given to what to do with existing leases with up to 20 years to run and to contaminated land.

Development will take many years. "It's a complex site," port chief executive Geoff Vazey said.

The concept for the area, which is behind the Viaduct Harbour, is to develop apartments, restaurants and parks alongside fishing and and marine industry uses. Office developments are not favoured because they create too much traffic.

--------------------

Source: Dominion Post

More News in this Category