South Auckland leaders decry ‘crumbs’ from Mayor's Fix It Fund

Mayor Wayne Brown says his $20 million Fix & Finish Fund delivers on his promise to restart stalled projects.

But South Auckland councillors argue their share has left communities with “crumbs”, despite Auckland gaining billions from Manukau’s airport shares.

On Thursday [28 August], Auckland Council’s Governing Body approved $20m to part-fund 13 local board projects across the former Auckland City and Manukau council areas. None will be completed in full.

Brown says the fund, set up through his Mayoral Proposal, was enabled by higher-than-expected returns from the new Auckland Future Fund, capitalised from the sale of the council’s remaining airport shares.

The Fix and Finish fund, established in the 2024–2034 Long Term Plan, supports partially funded community capital projects.

“The fund was intended to help projects in the legacy Auckland City and Manukau areas that needed to be fixed or finished, but did not have full funding, and was only ever a one-off,” Brown says.

The Fix and Finish fund would simply not have happened if the council had not agreed to sell its shareholding in Auckland Airport, he says.

$25m shortfall leaves projects incomplete

Local boards had sought $57.3m worth of projects. With only $20m available, councillors approved 13 for partial funding.

Of the fund, $19.2m was allocated to projects, $800,000 was held in contingency.

Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board chair Apulu Reece Autagavaia and deputy chair Vi Hausia present their projects to Auckland Council’s Governing Body for consideration under the Fix & Finish Fund. Photo/FuliforManukau Facebook

A further $3.5m was diverted from the Auckland Future Fund return into the operating budget to support a grant for the Manurewa War Memorial Park pavilion.

Manukau ward councillors Lotu Fuli and Alf Filipaina said the $25m gap meant communities missed out, despite contributing the airport shares that delivered $1.3b in sale proceeds and more than $400m in dividends.

They moved an amendment to increase the fund by $25m, which would have lifted the total to $45m and allowed all 13 projects to be fully funded.

Ōtāhuhu Streetscapes project will receive funding to complete the upgrade of Great South Road between Criterion Square and Memorial Square. Photo / Boffa Miskell

Even then, Ōtara-Papatoetoe, which submitted two proposals, would have seen only one completed.

Finance staff confirmed the borrowing would add about five to seven cents per household per week. Filipaina pressed the staff to state the figure on the record.

“This is not political,” he says. “These projects have sub-regional benefits. The five cents per week is a lot when combined, but the benefits for our communities outweigh the cost.”

The amendment failed to gain support.

Avondale Central Reserve playground, which has received funding for physical works. Photo / Auckland Council

“Crumbs” for South Auckland

Fuli says the outcome highlights inequity.

“These communities brought that dowry of airport shares to the Super City. They deserve more than crumbs. What we have here neither fixes nor finishes anything.”

She pressed officials on whether the airport's share of proceeds benefited all Aucklanders. Officials confirmed both dividends and sale proceeds had been used across the region.

An artist’s impression of the planned multi-sport pavilion at Manurewa War Memorial Park, which has received funding for the development of a multi-use community facility. Photo / Synergine

Fuli called the $20m fund “a slap in the face, really, a drop in the bucket of what we have received in benefits and will continue to receive.”

Ōtara-Papatoetoe, which had sought major investment in the Manukau Sports Bowl, receives just $1m for further investigations. “A million dollars for investigations will neither fix nor finish anything,” Fuli says.

Pushback from other councillors

Councillors opposing the amendment argued that borrowing for projects confined to legacy areas would create the wrong precedent.

“I worry about the precedent of an amendment with such a big figure," Councillor Richard Hills said.

A recent community event at Epsom Library, which will receive funding to complete roof and drainage repairs. Photo / Epsom Community Library (Epsom) Facebook

These priorities should be decided through the annual plan, not by changing the contestable process midstream, he said.

Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson said local boards applied, knowing there was a $20 million cap

Brown closed the debate with a warning: “The free money is always oversubscribed. There is always people wanting more for nothing. And we’ve given out $20 million of the free money and we’ve told the public we’re going to do this.”

Mt Wellington War Memorial sports field will receive funding to upgrade its soil fields to sand carpet surfaces. Photo / Auckland Council

Next steps

Councillors signed off the final list of projects, but South Auckland leaders say the fight for equity is not over.

Simpson, who chaired the meeting, says the funding allocation achieves a good outcome for multiple projects that would otherwise not be progressed.

“We all wish there was more money available for more projects, however, what we’ve been able to do is ensure a distribution with secured funding to all local board areas within the old Auckland City Council and Manukau City so projects within those board areas can progress,” she says.

-LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.