Rural ratepayers robbed by rail, says Rodney councillor

Rodney Councillor Greg Sayers says that rural rates are being siphoned off to subsidise Auckland’s rail, ferry and bus services.

Earlier this month, it emerged that Auckland City Rail Link (CRL) needed a further $500 million of ratepayers’ money after the project’s costs had blown out by an additional $1 billion.

Councillors agreed to the bailout following a six-hour meeting, but Cr Sayers was one of only three councillors to vote against it.

“Auckland ratepayers should not be paying another cent towards this project, and central government needs to step up to the plate and fund 100 per cent of the CRL project, as they do for every other city rail project throughout the country,” he says.

Cr Sayers is especially upset that hundreds of millions of dollars is being spent on rail, when Rodney’s rural ratepayers continue to put up with poorly maintained roads.

“Rural ratepayers continue to be robbed blind by Auckland Council,” he says,

Cr Sayers made the claim after securing figures from Council that show Rodney rural landowners pay $33 million in general rates, but only $6 million per annum is invested back into maintaining unsealed roads.

“This is disgraceful and clearly shows why so many people are frustrated at the state of their unsealed roads when rural households receive minimal other services from Council,” he says.

According to Cr Sayers, the $6 million currently allocated to unsealed road maintenance had remained unchanged for the past five years, even though the volume of traffic damaging the roads was increasing.

Cr Sayers is calling for a doubling of the unsealed roading maintenance budget from $6 million to $12 million a year, every year, for the next 10 years.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff was approached for comment, but had not responded as Mahurangi Matters went to press.