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Britomart has an AMAZING History ... |
Chapter 3
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Britomart Begins
In 1995 Mayor Les Mills proposed “the most visionary developments that your council has ever proposed.” The “Britomart” scheme that was proposed included a five-story underground transport interchange, major high-rise development, the undergrounding of Quay Street and new public spaces.
“Jihong Lu, managing director of the company promoting redevelopment of Auckland’s 3.2ha Britomart downtown bus terminal, remains confident the project will succeed. Auckland City Council goes to the Environment Court hearing starting on August 31, to appeal against the rejection last year of the project’s last resource consent, to dewater the site. Overturning the ruling would allow the council to sell Britomart to Pacific Capital, kick-starting the mammoth redevelopment project.” NZ Herald, 25-26 July, 1998
The project retained the CPO, Northern Steamship Building, Wharf Police Station Building, Australis House, A.H.Nathan Building but proposed 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.
The ground level development included a public plaza across Quay Street with traffic along a stretch of Quay Street being undergrounded. The main pedestrian entry was to be through the historic CPO, with two more entries from the public plaza above the terminal.
The project was to have five levels underground. This would provide 2900 carparks, a train station with four rail lines, the provision for light rail, an underground bus terminal, and the undergrounding of Quay Street.
Opposition to this Britomart Project included concerns about a lack of public consultation, bus operator issues around the new underground terminal, the large financial risk, and the Resource Consent for the de-watering of the site being declined. During the 1998 ACC elections the Britomart project was heavily scrutinised by politicians and the public.
Britomart was an election issue during the local Government Elections. “STOP! Rethink Britomart Now!” was an alliance of factions opposed to Britomart. They petitioned council to drop the multimillion-dollar project. The New Zealand Herald writes, “The petition was endorsed by 12 organisations including the Western Bays community board, and vocal anti-Britomart lobbyists such as the centre-right party Auckland Now and the NZ Institute of Architects’ Auckland branch.” Sink Britomart: lobby, 3/4/98.
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 tabled in Parliament said Britomart was the largest development involving a local authority in New Zealand “The Britomart project has been and continues to be, controversial – the nature, scale, cost and risks associated with the development are all the subject of considerable debate.” |
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Britomart Display Centre
In 1997 the ACC established a Display Centre with displays and models on the ground floor of the Old CPO. The Display Centre became the focal point for the public to gain access to transportation 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. The Internet was also an important communication tool that the Display Centre utilised to inform the public and receive feedback on the project www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/Britomart
The Display Centre staff acted as static ambassadors for Auckland City providing transport and tourist information.
Between 1999 – 2001 an average of 300 people visited the display centre in the Old Chief Post Office each day. In 2001 and 2002 a total of 234,354 people visited the Waitemata Waterfront Display Centre to provide feedback and get information relating to the project. The Display centre hosted thousands of students, tourists, over seas dignitaries and members of the public with a wide range of questions that included “Where are the public toilets?” and “Where do I catch a bus from?”
In May 2002 after the contract was awarded for the CPO works the staff of the Britomart Display Centre said a fond farewell to their home of almost five years. Display Centre manager Suzanne Sinclair said “The building has been our space for such a long time now that leaving it will be a little bit hard. We’ve been here to see three mayors, three councils and a Britomart project that’s had several faces. In that time I think the Display Centre has really proved its worth.” They were relocated around the corner in the Northern Steamship Building at 122 Quay Street and still provided up to date information on the Britomart project and the same friendly service. |
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Auckland Regional Land Transport Strategy
"Give urgency 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.” Policy C8.1.4, 1999 Auckland Regional Land Transport Strategy. (picture) A map of the Auckland Region and the rapid transit corridors connecting the region
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 ARC developed the Passenger Transport Action plan that outlined the regional transport improvements over the next ten years. The Britomart project 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. |
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The Rail TunnelA tunnel was required to connect the existing suburban rail networks into downtown. The area of land east of the Britomart site, which was the old railway land / Quay Park (bounded by Quay Street, Britomart Place, Beach Road and the Strand), was gifted as a settlement between the New Zealand Crown and the local Iwi, Ngati Whatua o Orakei. Part of the settlement prevented the Crown from building rail lines on surface.
(left) Sheet piles are driven into the ground as construction begins, (centre) excavation continues under Tangihua Street towards Britomart Place, (right) concrete is poured to form the basement slab of the rail tunnel
The underground tunnel is 506 meters 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.
Auckland City Publication, “Public Transport Beyond 2000, the Britomart Underground Terminal and Associated Development”, A Public Consultation Document, July 1995, p.2 Auckland City Publication, Insite edition 483 – April 10, 2002, “Britomart Display centre staff bid fond farewell to workplace. P.1 Image provided by the Auckland Regional Council |
In 1995 New Zealand had won the America’s Cup yacht race and it was decided that Auckland would host the next regatta. Sir Peter Blake of Team New Zealand wanted all the syndicates located together with an opportunity for the Government to showcase New Zealand to the world. The Viaduct Basin was one of the projects that lay under the umbrella of the Harbour Edge Development Group. 
The ARC as part of its regulatory planning responsibilities delivers the Auckland Regional Land Transport Strategy, which is a plan to improve transport networks. In 1999 the ARC after extensive consultation released the Auckland Regional Land Transport Strategy. The document outlined Auckland’s lack of a quality public transport system and described the importance of Britomart in connecting services within the region. 
The ACC voted to proceed with building a rail tunnel that would run parallel to Quay Street to Britomart Place, connecting the existing rail lines to the underground Britomart Station, and work commenced on the 26 th August 1999. The decision to build the tunnel before securing the consent to build the underground interchange was to allow landowner Magellan Orakei to start above ground development on 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. 
