New Lynn town centre package endorsement and stage one – construction funding

Applicant

Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) for Waitakere City Council

Purpose

To seek the Board's endorsement of ARTA's (for Waitakere City Council) New Lynn town centre package and its approval for funding the construction of stage 1 of the package of activities that are being implemented in conjunction with ONTRACK's rail duplication, electrification and trenching project through New Lynn.

Date of decision

27 February 2009

Resolutions

The NZ Transport Agency Board:

  1. endorses the Auckland Regional Transport Authority's (for Waitakere City Council) New Lynn town centre package of transport activities;
  2. approves the procurement procedure described in Attachment 6, Request for procurement procedure approval, under Section 25 of the LTMA (2003) to allow Waitakere City Council to establish a negotiated contract with ONTRACK for the construction of rail bridges, road connections and associated works by its contractor Fletcher Construction Ltd;
  3. approves funding for the construction of Stage 1 road network improvements for Auckland Regional Transport Authority's (for Waitakere City Council) New Lynn Town Centre Package, at an estimated cost of [withheld] and a funding assistance rate of 53% (NZ Transport Agency's share [withheld]) from N funds, subject to Waitakere City Council formal agreement to:
    1. contribute at least [withheld] toward the total cost of the package as developer contributions, thereby reducing the requirement for a NZ Transport Agency subsidy; and
    2. use its best endeavours to pursue and contract opportunities, prior to lodging an application for Stage 2 construction funding, to reduce the funding required from both Waitakere City Council and the NZ Transport Agency through funding contributions related to development of the town centre
  4. notes that the option for the transport interchange that is proposed to be implemented by Waitakere City Council does not appear to be optimal, given that the New Lynn Town Centre Package is the largest transit oriented development (TOD) package in New Zealand and its success from transport, urban design and development perspectives is likely to have a bearing on future TOD proposals in Auckland and other urban centres;
  5. delegates to the Chief Executive the authority to consider the optimal solution for the transport interchange with the Auckland Regional Transport Authority and Waitakere City Council, and, if necessary, to negotiate a funding arrangement to a maximum of $10 million, which may involve the use of developer contributions combined with NZTA subsidy to resolve a possible affordability issue;
  6. delegates to the NLTP Review Group the authority to approve funding for the construction of the transport interchange component of the New Lynn Town Centre Package, at an estimated cost of $33 million, given that the Board has previously approved the macroscope of the project;
  7. notes that the total construction cost of the New Lynn town centre package is estimated at $115 million, the 95th percentile construction cost is estimated at $123 million and the 5th percentile at $107 million;
  8. notes the reasons for this decision are as set out in the Reasons for recommendation section;
  9. agrees to withhold from publication on the internet the reasons for this decision and the sum set out in resolution(c)(i) because disclosure of that information would prejudice negotiations by the Waitakere City Council to secure developer contributions to the package cost (section 9(2)(j) Official Information Act 1982), and would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the Waitakere City Council (section 9(2)(b)(ii) OIA); and
  10. agrees to keep Board paper 09/02/0136 in Committee until the Group Manager, Regional Partnerships and Planning, has been advised that the Waitakere City Council has completed negotiations for developer contributions.

Reason for the decision

[Withheld as specified above.]

If you would like details of how the assessment profile for this activity was determined, please email us at boardsecretariat@nzta.govt.nz.