Michael Wood

The Government's plans for light rail in Auckland are in fresh trouble with Treasury forecasting rising costs and a council source saying it will be “a cold ...

The urban development and enabling infrastructure costs will be the responsibility of other central and local government agencies, the minister said. Wood said the Government is committed to delivering light rail for Auckland, acknowledging it was a significant investment but an asset that will serve Auckland for generations. A mayoral spokesperson said “those are not the words the mayor would use to express Auckland Council’s long-standing position that light rail is a central government project, being driven and funded by central government”. Wood is unfazed by the Treasury forecasts of rising costs, saying the Government and Auckland Light Rail Ltd (ALR), set up to oversee the design and construction of the project, expect costs to reduce as plans for construction become more detailed and clearer, and value engineering and risk mitigation is undertaken. “It would be a cold day in hell before the mayor agreed for a cent of ratepayers’ funding to go into the project,” the source said. The Government’s plans for light rail in Auckland are in fresh trouble with Treasury forecasting rising costs and a council source saying it will be “a cold day in hell” before Mayor Wayne Brown agrees to any ratepayer funding.