Today the Council voted to undertake an extensive review of the role of Ports of Auckland before deciding on whether to support further expansion into the harbor. The decision was made in a Council meeting this morning. … (the council pulled) the brakes on further expansion of the Auckland port into the Waitemata Harbour but stopped short of putting a permanent end to the expansion.
It’s not over yet – however, the AAA and similar organizations consider this initial step a victory. : ).
Alastair
Its not a permanent stop, but at least now we have the time to think!
Ben
From TVNZ: http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/brakes-put-auckland-port-expansion-plan-4761446
Among other resolutions, the council decided this morning it needed to assess future freight demand to look at whether the port would need to expand to meet future capacity requirements.
It also proposed looking at a range of development options for the Port and to consider the community’s view on port development.
The Council said “the study may confirm the status quo, identify different configuration alternatives at the current port locations, or identify as yet unexplored alternative locations for port infrastructure”.
That last part from TVNZ – a rather bitter pill for me personally to swallow after extensive lobbying and commentary.
Never mind – nice work AAA and as Alastair said: Not a permanent stop but least we now have time to think
Alastair McKenzie
@ Ben
Yes i saw your posts on View on Auckland… Likewise we have been making submissions, holding hearings, making noise when we can, its great to see there is finally some recognition of this noise – its great to see them considering what we think to be the obvious.