The Future Port Study has reached consensus on allowing Ports of Auckland (POAL) to extend Bledisloe Wharf by 25 metres by adding removable piles rather than reclaiming land.
Most of New Zealand’s imported vehicles and machinery come through the bulk and general cargo wharves at POAL which includes Bledisloe, Marsden, and Captain Cook
A member of the Future Port Study shipping federation executive Annabel Young told BusinessDesk the proposal for the Bledisloe extension would need to go through the standard consenting processes.
Young says the proposal allows the existing port to stay economically viable by letting more ships berth. It would not involve any reclamation work as initially sought by Ports of Auckland Limited.
BusinessDesk reports that port opponents won a victory in the High Court last year after it ruled consents for a much bigger 96-metre extension to the wharf were invalid.
One of the major questions posed is how soon a new port would be needed. The Future Port Study recognises the Auckland container terminal is potentially running out of capacity within the next 30 years though that’s difficult to predict with any accuracy.
Auckland’s population is expected almost to double to 2.6 million in the next 50 years, and the existing port doesn’t have room to handle the likely increased trade on its current site, especially following vigorous public opposition to planned wharf expansions.
It is unclear how much it would cost to establish a new port.
A suggest figure is around $5 billion although a site at the Firth of Thames site would include additional infrastructure costs.
“There have been suggestions local iwi might want to partner in the project and land one of the most significant development costs,” says Young.
Road Transport Forum spokesman Ken Shirley told BusinessDesk the question is when does planning need to start for a new port, as there was a cost to investing too early in an alternative.
“How the port of Auckland maintains its effectiveness in the meantime, given it is the country’s largest port by value and handles the most significant volume of imports, is a huge challenge,”says Shirley.
“Big cities need ports and the same with trucks – that’s how the Marmite and the muesli get to the supermarket. Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die,” he says
