Mixed messages as America's Cup base planning unfolds
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com/nz 19 Feb 2018 18:29 PST
20 February 2018
Land Rover BAR have a `double base` in Bermuda with a large corporate area (all pre-frabricated). The British team are expected to be one of the worst affected if the "Hybrid" proposal goes ahead © Richard Gladwell
This week, Auckland Council's Governing Body has its first Meeting for 2018, with no mention yet of the America's Cup in the published Agendas.
With just seven working days remaining in the Submission period of the Resource Consent for the Auckland Council approved option for the America's Cup bases, there is no further information on the so-called "Hybrid" option announced last Wednesday afternoon by David Parker, Minister for Economic Development.
The new proposal, according to a Media Release issued by Minister Parker's office stated that Auckland's Mayor Phil Goff "was pleased the Council and the Government had worked collaboratively to reach a consensus."
Emirates Team New Zealand claimed they were surprised by the move. There does not have been any dialogue since.
It was claimed that "the proposal offers the added advantage of bringing forward the redevelopment of Wynyard Point in line with the Auckland Council’s longer-term plans." Quite how it improved Auckland's chances of staging the 36th America's Cup was not clear, in fact on closer examination the longer and riskier time lines in Hybrid Proposal make it a backward step.
The statement claimed that "Mr Goff has discussed the Wynyard hybrid option with Auckland’s councillors, and it will go before council’s governing body in the near future."
Most would have expected that "near future" should be at the next scheduled meeting of the Governing Body. Until there is a formal vote from the Governing Body in its favour, it is hard to see how Minister Parker's "Hybrid" option can progress beyond the puffery of a media release and concept drawing stage.
Mayor Goff was adamant at the December 14, 2017 meeting of the Governing Body (which is the formal term for the full 21 elected member Council)that the Auckland Council did not have the time or financial resources to pursue two Resource Consent applications and meet the then Resource Consent submission deadline of January 15, 2018.
The Coalition Government proposals have focussed on saving dollars. To date it has been an ambiguous process depending on how the numbers are totalled, and with some significant costs (such as land decontamination) being left out. At the same time, the Council and Coalition Government with the encouragement of activist groups, are using the America's Cup to kick-start plans to clear-fell the Wynyard Point tank farm. Quite when the bases are delivered appears to have become somewhat incidental provided the tank farm removal program gets underway.
Base delivery dates too late
The major issue is now not so much in the cost but in the delivery dates for the bases. The timelines show the bases being delivered very late, and in one scenario for a Wynyard Point option, the sites would not be delivered until April 2020. That date, if correct, means that the teams would not be able to sail AC75's from their Auckland bases for a complete 12 month buildup period of the 36th America's Cup. In other words the affected teams would go into the America's Cup cold and with no sailing experience at the venue in the months of the regatta.
Under the Protocol for the 36th America's Cup, the teams are permitted to launch their first AC75 on March 31, 2019, and the second on February 15, 2020. Under one of the construction timelines, the teams could would have two AC75's and no bases in Auckland.
Emirates Team New Zealand is believed to the be the worst affected, which in turn directly impacts on the New Zealand team's chances of staging a successful Defence.
Using their existing base is not an option. The area located on Beaumont Street (the vexed Site 18) and currently used by the team as a base does not have the required 5.5metre water depth necessary to float an AC75. Dredging with all its environmental consequences is required for that option to work and buy time.
Under the Plan currently in the Resource Consent process, Emirates Team NZ would have received their flat-deck site in June 2019 and would have a base ready by January 2020, ready for the delivery of their second AC75 in February 2020. Under other plans being floated the New Zealand team would not have a completed base until April 2020 - after the Summer and after taking delivery of their second AC75.
Other teams are understood to be in a similar position and would elect to stay training at their home bases (which in the northern hemisphere are heading into a Summer) and arrive in New Zealand later. That reduces the team spend in New Zealand and in turn, reduces the much-debated economic impact for New Zealand of hosting the America's Cup.
The timelines currently in play with the MBIE Hybrid option are more appropriate to the 37th America's Cup not the 36th.
New plan requires process restart
Quite how Parker's so-call Hybrid Plan snuggles into the currently running Resource Consent process is not clear.
Questions sent by Sail-World to Parker's Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) last week on the revised Resource Consent process for the bases have so far gone unanswered.
MBIE was working in conjunction with Panuku Developments in late 2017 to work through the various options. However, it now seems that relationship has broken down completely - evidenced by MBIE publishing its own plan last Wednesday for the Panuku Development owned land on Wynyard Point.
Sail-World understands from a specialist in environmental law that the existing Resource Consent application for the option known as Wynyard Basin can be amended only when they are "sensible and appropriate and particularly where experts may have advised on the potential for adverse effects."
But the scope of the change to an existing Resource Consent application cannot go beyond the original boundaries, which would mean that the limit of any change would be the western edge of Wynyard Wharf on which three single team sites were located in the plan approved by Auckland Council's Governing Body on December 14, 2017.
The risk for the Council and Government in any attempt to amend the existing Panuku Development sponsored Resource Consent application - which is going through an accelerated Hearing process directly to the Environment Court, is that it could easily fail on a legal point of the process (not) followed. At that juncture, it would be impossible in a restarted process to get the bases in place within the required time for the work up to the 36th America's Cup.
Fixing the Planning knitting
Auckland Council was more responsive to Sail-World's questions.
In response to questions on how the Parker Hybrid plan would be worked into the Panuku Developments sponsored application, an Auckland Council spokesman replied: "At this stage, the existing notified applications will continue to progress through the resource consent process. Auckland Council and the Government are working together to confirm what consent process might need to be put in place to support the hybrid option to ensure Auckland delivers a successful America’s Cup in 2020-21."
However, given the nature of the change proposed in the Hybrid Plan, specifically the siting of three bases in an area currently occupied by the ASB temporary carpark, it would not seem possible to legally accommodate the Parker Hybrid proposal into the existing Resource Consent process for Wynyard Basin. (The Wynyard Basin proposal was the one originally promoted by Mayor Phil Goff, backed 12-3 in a vote by the Governing Body on December 14, 2017 and enthusiastically embraced by Emirates Team New Zealand.)
Interestingly in a separate report from Radio NZ's Todd Niall, he says that ASB have not even begun talks on quitting the temporary carpark they occupy. Yet the land space is fundamental to Parker's Hybrid plan - as it will house three "double" bases, Another source told Sail-World that the first ASB heard of the new use for their carpark was when they read the media release.
The Auckland Council spokesman refused a request for additional information on Parker's Hybrid Plan responding: "Other than the drawings available for the Hybrid option; no additional information is being provided at this time.”
Emirates Team NZ backed plan a better option
A few hours after MBIE announced the so-called Hybrid Plan, Emirates Team New Zealand released a revised plan for the America's Cup Bases. Again this has not been formally considered by Auckland Council's Governing Body. However, unlike the Parker-sponsored Hybrid Plan, it does appear to be a better fit within the scope of the Wynyard Basin proposal currently within the Resource Consent process.
The ETNZ Plan uses only the 75 metres of planned Halsey Street Extension approved by the Governing Body on December 14, 2017. There is no requirement for bases on Wynyard Point and the issues entwined with running America's Cup bases within an operational fuel and hazardous substances facility vanish. Plus it is a "clean build" - in other words, it is new build without any of the issues associated with land bases or building over a fuel wharf that is fast approaching its centennial anniversary and is well past replacement date.
Emirates Team New Zealand claims its plan has savings of "tens of millions". Presumably, the delivery dates for teams would be well inside the required targets for a March 2021 America's Cup.
The seven-team bases are all in a central location which works well for public access, security and is adjacent to the media centre planned for the Viaduct Events Centre.
More importantly, the ETNZ plan can be incorporated into current Resource Consent application as it does not involve an increase in scope or expanding boundaries.
The team's proposal has not so much attracted a sniff of interest from those pursuing other plans.
One or two boat bases?
A common issue in all plans is their use of two different sized bases - a so-called "single" and a "double" base.
Previously the concept has been explained that some teams would just have an operational base while others would have the operational bases plus a corporate/VIP area similar to that used by LandRover BAR in the Bermuda based 35th America's Cup.
“A single or double base is related to whether they hold one or two boats", explained the Council spokesman.
For those who understand the America's Cup, it is hard to see that given the opportunity to build two boats, in a new class, that any team will turn up with just one boat in Auckland. While the teams can't conduct two-boat testing, it is hard to believe that a serious America's Cup team would try and get by with just designing and building one boat.
Also, if there were structural or collision damage most teams would want to substitute their second boat to keep racing and stay in the regatta. The merits or otherwise of a single boat campaign frequently exercised the minds of media and others in Bermuda - where the teams (apart from the Defender) were restricted to having just a single AC50.
It is most unclear how the America's Cup bases game will unfold.
There does not seem to be any legally compliant process that MBIE or Mayor Goff can use to modify the existing Resource Consent process to accommodate Minister Parker's Hybrid proposal.
Further MBIE can’t lodge any Resource Consent as they are not a land-owner.
The Auckland Council can’t lodge a or change a Resource Consent because they are the determining body - so any new proposal can only come through Panuku Developments.
There hasn’t been a vote by the Governing Body in favour of any new Proposal - which has to happen to get a new Resource Consent proposal rolling. The current Wynyard Basin proposal is the only one that is "live".
ETNZ’s Hybrid proposal could be added to the existing proposal as a modification as there is no scope or land creep. Plus the risk from hazardous substances is markedly reduced - an issue that is already covered in the Sherpa Consulting report on risk management for the Wynyard Basin proposal.
The Government can legislate a binding solution which would stop the Resource Consent process and would be a take-it-or-leave it decision for RNZYS/ETNZ on the hosting.
While that could bring forward the start-time for construction, there are a lot of unknowns in the construction phase and the delivery time of the bases for occupancy could be too late to be viable for the Challenging and Defending teams.
Such a move would be seen as an attempt by the Coalition Government to bring ETNZ to heel - which would be a very high-risk strategy.
The two Resource Consent applications (including the Sherpa Consulting report) can be viewed by clicking here a Submission Form can be accessed by clicking here