Give Auckland a Chance to Breathe

new-zealand-first-party

Mon Apr 29 2013 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Give Auckland a Chance to Breathe

Monday, 29 April 2013, 1:37 pm
Press Release: New Zealand First Party

Andrew Williams MP
Spokesperson for Local Government
29 April 2013

Give Auckland a Chance to Breathe

Auckland should restrict its artificial population growth and be given a chance to breathe before embarking on more expensive “patchwork” infrastructure projects, says New Zealand First.

Local Government spokesperson Andrew Williams says Auckland infrastructure is struggling to cope with the current population, let alone the extra one million people projected over the next two to three decades.

"Auckland needs time to consolidate and jam-packing another million people will compound the infrastructure problems we have now," says Mr Williams.

The Consensus Building Group report released today proposed two options to plug the $10-15 billion shortfall for transport development over the next 30 years.

"The report is about spending more money, which we don’t have, on bricks and mortar infrastructure.

"We should be providing an international world class transport system for the population we have now.

“It’s no use fiddling with transport systems at great cost to fix today’s problems while thousands of people are pouring into Auckland each year, creating even more pressure on the systems.

"New Zealand First strongly believes the population needs to be decentralised with more regional development strengthening the provincial economy.

“The concentration of a huge, rapidly increasing population in Auckland is to the detriment of the entire economy and local and central government has to face this reality,” says Mr Williams.

ENDS

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