For $200 mil, it better be really super

Written By: - Date published: 12:02 am, June 2nd, 2010 - 13 comments
Categories: auckland supercity, democracy under attack - Tags:

Congratulations Aucklanders, you are about to become the owners of a supercity. And it’s cost you just $200 million… so far.

The government embarked on a half-arsed, anti-democratic attempt to to reform Auckland in big business’s interests. They didn’t let Aucklanders have the referendum that they were entitled to and others have had to have their say on whether they support amalgamation.

The local boards are a joke. Legitimate concerns have been ignored. Communities up and down the region seeing their local democracy stripped and are being forced into a conglomerate that don’t want. Democracy was in business’s way, so the government killed it.

The government didn’t even work out the cost of the supercity before they started it (and why should they? It’s the ratepayers who foot the bill). Rodney Hide told Parliament the cost of setting up the supercity would be “minuscule” and refused to put a dollar figure on it.

Well, we’ll see how many Aucklanders think that $200 million is minuscule when it shows up in their rates bills.

13 comments on “For $200 mil, it better be really super ”

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  1. lprent 1
    2 June 2010 at 6:45 am

    The bill is rapidly rising now.

    The costs of this super-shitty cockup is being provided by the councils (I don’t think that central government has provided a shekel yet), the councils haven’t budgeted for it in the rates, and the council budgets are usually pretty tight.

    There has to be either a distinct loss of services happening somewhere or a rapid rise in local body debt going on.

    I’ve seen a few signs of diminished services in the bus system, in particular with those displays at bus stops showing bus arrival times. But not much. So my guess is increased debt.

    In a lot of ways it doesn’t matter how it is being paid for. As a ratepayer I’m going to have to pay for ACTs screwup anyway. But I’m curious about how the funds being used now are being finessed.

    Does anyone know how the massive cost of Rodneys vanity is being paid for?

  2. mickysavage 2
    2 June 2010 at 8:02 am

    For out west there is also a predicted annual increase in the amount paid for water rates of $750.

    I want my money back. Aucklanders have been sold a pup.

  3. Akldnut 3
    2 June 2010 at 8:41 am

    How rateable properties in the region? At 1 million properties (my very rough guess) would equal 200 bucks per property.

    • Akldnut 3.1
      2 June 2010 at 9:07 am

      Wow , way off the mark – I should have done aquick google

      Rodney 40,700
      Nth Shore 80,000
      Waitakere 63,589
      Auckland 160,000
      Manukau 99,165
      Papkura 17,500
      Franklin 23,896
      Total 484,850

      That would be $412.4987 per property so far

  4. tc 4
    2 June 2010 at 9:46 am

    Hide’s the frontperson for NACT’s sellout of auckland, he’s no idea what it’s costing and doesn’t care as the brief is ‘get it done Wodney….or we’ll take Epsom from you’.

    Akl ratepayers will end up funding an undemocratic/gerrymandered mess with darklords like Mark Ford and Doug McKay making a killing, plenty of good hardworking folk left jobless and when the dust settles it’ll still be the same old same old…….less people sharing the same pie so more for the already fat cats.

  5. Lazy Susan 5
    2 June 2010 at 10:54 am

    There was never any cost benefit analysis done on the Super City so this comes as no surprise.

    The whole debacle has been driven by ideology, not policy. It’s privatision of Aucklands assets by stealth and is a disgraceful abuse of power.

    I can understand the rationale about having an Auckland-wide body to govern key infrastructure assets but we have an elected body that could have done this – the ARC. They already control regional transport infrastructure through ARTA and other key regional assets could have been put under their control.

    Laughably I hear Wodney on RNZ this morning championing the fact that “the little guy” has won because they have listened to submissions and decided to reverse their decision and adopt Howick as the name for the Eastern Surburbs board. More window dressing Wodders. Listen on the little stuff but the big picture remains the same – it’ s a rort.

    Captcha: oppose

  6. Armchair Critic 6
    2 June 2010 at 11:02 am

    These are just the costs to get it started. They won’t just go away on 1 November.
    Once the travesty is operational there will be extra costs imposed to get the whole thing up to speed. Rebranding, regionalising policies and plans, making more staff redundant to meet underfunded budgets and rehiring them as consultants six months later (or as staff five years later), the extra costs will be incurred for ten years at least.

  7. Zaphod Beeblebrox 7
    2 June 2010 at 11:48 am

    I doubt you could actually quantify what the loss of our existing institutions will cost us.

    He never explained why we needed to abolish everything then start again. Local government in Auckland needs changes, but do you need to destroy every single institution in the process?

    The tangible and intangible assets lost will be huge- which will set our economic, social and instructure development back years.

  8. randal 8
    2 June 2010 at 12:04 pm

    short term greed always seems to truimph in new zealand.
    must be a national characteristic?

  9. Bored 9
    2 June 2010 at 12:09 pm

    Qui bono????? Oh, thats right, the fat cat business men of Auckland, and other corporate parasites. Rodders must be really laughing that the larceny he is overseeing is being paid for by the ones stolen from. Good one Rodney, cant help thinking you might be sticking your neck in the noose..

  10. Lanthanide 10
    2 June 2010 at 12:24 pm

    Living in CHCH and having mostly ignored this supercity debacle, I’d like to know if Labour’s plans for the supercity, assuming that they would adopt the Royal Commission’s proposals (which seemed likely in broad terms), would be any cheaper or about the same cost as the present NACT version?

  11. tc 11
    2 June 2010 at 12:28 pm

    Quite ZB……in business such a consolidation would save money by reducing duplication, maintain the IP and streamline processes however we have here a certifiable idiot without any experience making it up as he goes along.

    How on earth wodney manages to rack up $200mill and rising is a testimony to his incompetance and those he\’s chosen to sellout akl along with him. It needed some tweaks not to start again as it by and large got the job done.

    Supercity/Ecan….what next NACT ?

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