50 Victoria Street
Private Bag 6995
Wellington 6141
New Zealand
T 64 4 894 5400
F 64 4 894 6100
www.nzta.govt.nz
21 November 2022
Darren Conway
[email address]
REF: OIA-11063
Dear Darren
Fol ow up: Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank you for your email of 28 October 2022 requesting us to release the Auckland Harbour Bridge
Shared Path Single Stage Business Case in an unredacted form.
To clarify, we would like to reiterate that we are relying upon section 9(2)(i) of the Act, not section
9(2)(j), to withhold certain information in the Single Stage Business Case. Section 9(2)(i) of the Act
allows Waka Kotahi to withhold the information to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage,
commercial activities. In withholding this information, Waka Kotahi does not necessarily need to be in
an active negotiation.
We have responded to your questions as detailed below.
If the NZTA stil believes that s9(2)(j) stil justifies redactions, then for each instance I request
that NZTA:
1. identify the specific negotiations; and
2. explain precisely how release of the information at issue would prejudice or disadvantage
them in carrying on those negotiations.
As noted above, there is no active negotiation, nor does there need to be. The Single Stage Business
Case contains commercial information that would affect Waka Kotahi undertaking negotiations for this
project in the future, should it be released at this time. Releasing this information would prejudice
Waka Kotahi’s ability to negotiate with third parties in developing contracts and related arrangements
for the work delivering a walking and cycling option across the Waitematā Harbour. The nature of this
information is such that its release may impair the Waka Kotahi position in contractual negotiations on
other, non-walking and cycling construction projects in Auckland.
Waka Kotahi is currently exploring walking and cycling activities as part of the Additional Waitematā
Harbour Connections project. By mid-next year, the Waitematā Harbour Connections team plans to
deliver a recommendation for a package of transport improvements as part of a Waitematā Harbour
Connections Indicative Business Case. That is likely to encompass all modes including light rail,
buses, connections for walking and cycling, vehicles and freight, along with addressing the future use
of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. These long-term solutions wil require significant investment and
involve complex large-scale construction, anticipated to take more than 15 years of design and
construction work. Waka Kotahi wil therefore need to engage with contractors on commercial matters
that are likely to require it to draw upon the information that has been withheld.
Property Impacts
I have no desire or need to know any information related to specific properties. This does not
void the request for identification of specific negotiations and how the release of the
information would affect negotiations under s9(2)(j) .
Al details of negotiations with private property owners, including value and other terms, are
confidential between those owners and Waka Kotahi. That remains so regardless of which stage of
negotiations (i.e., whether complete or incomplete).
Tables 8 Project Benefits, 9 Agglomeration Benefits, 10 Tourism Benefits
Given that I already have obtained the SSBC economic analysis under a separate OIA request, I
can say with a high level of confidence that the justification for redacting the values in tables
8,9 and 10 under s9(2)(j) is no longer valid, if it ever was. That assumes that the values in the
analysis match those in the SSBC.
We have reviewed the documents concerned and have now released the economic benefits costs and
the capital cost.
With regard to your concerns on our decision redacting names under section 9(2)(a) of the Act, when
we sent our acknowledgement email, you did not clarify whether you wished to receive names, and as
such our standard practice is to not release the names of persons not employed by Waka Kotahi,
unless requested. We have now released the names of Waka Kotahi staff, but not the name of the
Ernst and Young consultant. Should you wish to see this, please let us know as we wil require some
time to consult Ernst and Young to get their view on the release of the staff member’s name.
With regard to your comment about our decision to redact parts of the document under section
9(2)(g)(i), we have now released this to you in ful .
With respect to the information that has been withheld, I do not consider there are any other factors
which would render it desirable, in the public interest, to make the information available.
Under section 28 of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review my decision to
withhold this information. The contact details for the Ombudsman can be located at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
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If you would like to discuss this reply with Waka Kotahi, please contact the Ministerial Services team,
by email at [NZTA request email].
Yours sincerely
Deborah Hume
National Manager, Multimodal and Innovation
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