The Maritime Union has come out strongly against Mayor Wayne Brown’s waterfront plan at Ports of Auckland, saying the “proposal for pools and barbies on the waterfront is simply not serious”.

Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison said uncertainty around the new proposals for the port company is a threat to the stability of the Auckland economy and the wider economy.

Brown has released plans that include an open-air seawater swimming pool, aquaculture, an exhibition centre and “Te Ao Māori showcase centre”, and an amphitheatre in the water, which have been considered by councillors behind closed doors.

Concerts on the water, with an amphitheatre for spectators all around, and a major Te Ao Māori centre are among the new proposals for Auckland's waterfront. Image / Nick McKay, Eke Panuku

The first round of developments would focus on recreation and cultural facilities on the finger wharves at the bottom of the central city. This includes Queens Wharf along with Captain Cook and Marsden wharves immediately to the east. The Hobson Wharf extension, built for the America’s Cup in the Viaduct, is also included.

Brown is driving the plans and suggests the finger wharves could be freed up for development “within the next two to five years”.

These wharves are currently used by the Ports of Auckland for its vehicle-importing business and for berthing cruise ships.

There’s no word on what will happen to the car imports, or how everything will be paid for.

Brown said: “I want us to deliver to Auckland the most beautiful and loved publicly owned waterfront of any harbour city in the world,” he said, “and this is a first step”.

Harrison said there is growing concern about the direction of the port debate.

The council, he said, is also reviewing options to sell an operating lease for the Ports to a global network terminal operator, and has commissioned consultants to seek expressions of interest.

The Auckland Waterfront proposal

It is unclear how simultaneously privatising and relocating the port is going to work, let alone the proposed waterfront redevelopment, the union leader said.

Harrison said the primary purpose of the Ports of Auckland was to facilitate trade and the port company was doing a good job at this.

“The Ports is going through a period of growth and stability under new leadership and it was a priority not to undermine this positive progress.

“The cost of the failed automation project of the previous management was estimated at a $1.2 billion hit to the economy, and another failed experiment could cause even greater harm.

A seawater pool and wetland areas feature in new proposals for the Auckland waterfront being promoted by Mayor Wayne Brown. Image / Nick McKay, Eke Panuku

“Any attempt to move or relocate port operations would be an extremely complex, expensive and long-term project that needed to be part of a wider ports strategy,” Harrison said.

In addition to the short-term conversion of the finger wharves, the development plan proposes a staged release over coming decades of the entire 77-hectare commercial area of the port. It suggests that about half the land could be built on, for commercial and public uses, with the remainder retained for public open spaces and “infrastructure”. This could include new streets.

Bernard Orsman is an Auckland-based reporter who has been covering local government and transport since 1998. He joined the Herald in 1990 and worked in the parliamentary press gallery for six years.