Britomart project
<< Back to project history contents
Transforming the waterfront, 1995-1999
Waterfront 2000
Waterfront 2000 is the name Auckland City gave to the project to transform Auckland's downtown waterfront. The main role of Auckland City's Harbour
Edge Development Group was to complete council projects in the area and to manage the interface between a range of private developments worth billions of
dollars, stretching from the base of Parnell in the east to Westhaven in the west.
In 1995 New Zealand won the America's Cup yacht race and it was decided that Auckland would host the next cup. It was Sir Peter Blake's desire to have
all syndicates located together, and an opportunity for the government to showcase New Zealand to the world, that led to the redevelopment of the Viaduct
Basin. The Viaduct Basin was one of the projects of the Harbour Edge Development Group.
The Britomart development was another project under the umbrella of the Harbour Edge Development Group and was planned for completion in conjunction
with the Viaduct Harbour.
Council of the day
In 1995 Mayor Les Mills proposed a Britomart scheme that included:
- a five story underground transport interchange providing 2900 car parks
- a train station with four rail lines and the provision for light rail
- an underground bus terminal
- major sky-rise development
- the undergrounding of Quay Street
- new public spaces.
The ground level development included a public plaza across Quay Street with traffic along a stretch of Quay Street being under grounded. The main
pedestrian entry was to be through the historic CPO, with two more entries from the public plaza above the terminal.
The project retained the CPO, Northern Steamship Building, Wharf Police Station Building, Australis House and the A.H. Nathan Building, but only
partial retention of the Barrington Building, Old Sofrana Building, Excelsior House, Stanbeth House and Masonic Building. These would have been dwarfed
by the eleven new developments.
This ambitious Britomart project came up against strong opposition. Major concerns surrounding the project included a lack of public consultation,
bus operators' reluctance to operate in an underground terminal, the large financial risk, and the unsuccessful obtaining of resource consent for the
de-watering of the site.
During the 1998 Auckland City elections the Britomart project was heavily scrutinised by politicians and the public. Britomart was a political campaign
topic and groups such as 'STOP! Rethink Britomart Now!' petitioned council to drop the multimillion dollar project.
The Audit Office spent more than a year conducting an all-embracing review into the Britomart project after complaints from the public. The 91 page
report that was tabled in parliament said Britomart was the largest development involving a local authority in New Zealand, and that the project was
controversial due to the nature, scale, cost and risks associated with the development - issues which had all been the subject of considerable debate.
Britomart display centre
In 1997 Auckland City established a centre with displays and models on the floors of the old CPO. The display centre became the focal point for the
public to gain access to public transport information.
The display centre allowed the public to view the Britomart design, watch videos, collect brochures, view updates of the Britomart project, look up the
history of the downtown area and learn about other regional projects. Hundreds of student packs were given free of charge to students of all ages doing
Britomart assignments.
Hundreds of free bus tours were run from the display centre around the waterfront precincts and countless presentations given to groups. A newsletter
was regularly produced updating the public on the Britomart projects. This website was also an important communication tool for informing the public and
receiving feedback on the project.
From 1999 to 2001 an average of 300 people per day visited the display centre in the old CPO. In 2001 and 2002 this increased, with a total of 234,354
people visiting the display centre to provide feedback and get information about the project. The display centre hosted thousands of students, tourists,
overseas dignitaries and members of the public.
Auckland Regional Land Transport Strategy
After extensive consultation, Auckland Regional Council (ARC) released the Auckland Regional Land Transport Strategy in 1999. The document outlined
Auckland's lack of a high quality public transport system and described the importance of Britomart in connecting services within the region. The strategy
said that urgency should be given to upgrading the Britomart passenger transport terminal to provide a high standard terminal and facilities for passengers
and provide good connections to all passenger transport modes.
The ARC developed the Passenger Transport Action Plan, which outlined the regional transport improvements over the next ten years. Britomart was seen
as the most important regional project in connecting rail, bus and ferry services in downtown Auckland. This would make Britomart the biggest transport
centre in New Zealand.
The Auckland Regional Land Transport Strategy was adopted by all regional councils and outlined the importance of working closely with associated
agencies, central government and the private sector, to achieve the best funding mix possible.
The rail tunnel
The area of land east of the Britomart site is referred to as Quay Park. Quay Park was gifted as a settlement claim between the New Zealand Crown and the
local iwi, Ngati Whatua. Part of the settlement claim prevented the Crown from building rail lines on the surface.
Auckland City voted to proceed with building a rail tunnel that would run parallel from Quay Street to Britomart Place, and work commenced on 26 August
1999. The decision to build the tunnel before securing the consent to build the underground interchange was decided, to allow landowner Magellan Orakei to
start development above the site of the rail route.
The tunnel was built using an open cut trench method that avoided the much higher cost of having to bore under any future developments. It was believed
that if the present Britomart scheme did not go ahead, another one eventually would.
The underground tunnel is 506m long and was completed in March 2000 at a cost of $30 million. The tunnel allows the eastern and southern railway lines
access into the CBD.
