£18M. DEVELOPMENT Contract, But Not Approval

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31225, 24 November 1966, Page 23

£18M. DEVELOPMENT Contract, But Not Approval

(New Zealand Press Assuciation) AUCKLAND, November 22. The contract for the construction of an £lB million multi-storey development scheme in Auckland was signed between the Auckland Harbour Board and representatives of an AustralianNew Zealand consortium this afternoon.

But after the hour-long I signing ceremony, an official of the consortium, Mr R. C.| Baker, of Sydney, said it was still not known whether the development could proceed because the Building Programmer had refused to give his approval. The consortium approached the programmer early this: year, he said, “but all we got from him was that he would favourably consider our application in 12 months’ time. "In other words, we may go to him and be told to just sit and wait for another 12 months—and that could happen at any stage of the scheme.” Mr Baker said he considered it rather ridiculous for such a major project to be kept in complete indecision with the developers not knowing at any one time whether they could proceed with the scheme, or whether they might be asked “to shut

lup shop” for a year or so. I Four copies of the contract [ (were signed today by the! :Harbour Board and Mainline} Construction Pty., Ltd., of j Sydney, Dillingham Construe-1 tion Pty., Ltd., of Melbourne, and the Fletcher Trust and' Investment Company, Ltd., of Auckland. ’ j I 1 ’ ■ • ; ’ I . -