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Auckland Council is trying to come to terms with how it will pay for the January floods, let alone the destruction caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.
At a Planning, Environment and Parks committee on February 9, councillors were worried about how they would pay for the unbudgeted investigation into the Auckland anniversary floods.
The investigation will cover the impacts of the flooding, implications of plan changes to the Auckland
Unitary plan, infrastructure and policy settings.
Cr Daniel Newman said the flooding would have significant budget implications and the scope of Council’s investigation was very broad.
“We are just about to go out for consultation on a budget, which appears entirely theoretical at the moment,” Newman said.
He said the budget would need to change as Council managed scarce resources in order to aid recovery.
“I agree with this work, but I think that the scope of it is probably too ambitious.”
Cr Shane Henderson, who represents Waitakere, had similar concerns, and asked what the budget was for the investigation.
“Do we have the capacity to do this and do we have an indication of budget?” Henderson asked.
Chief of strategy Megan Tyler couldn’t predict what the cost might be. She said the investigation was unbudgeted, as were the immediate relief efforts.
“We can either move money or [get] additional money or different money,” Tyler said. “We will just have to get to that point when we get to it.”
Henderson later said he hoped councillors would get [information] that would help them plan the city better in the future.
Mayor Wayne Brown said a “large lump” of the cost of the investigation would come from central government and other agencies.
“Just like what we have done with all the bins on the berms; you just have to do it and I will sort out the finances later on,” Brown said.
Council staff will prepare a clearer scope of work for the investigation, which will be presented to the committee on March 2.
