The initial 10-year-plan budget for what has been dubbed the "road to nowhere" was $49.5 million — that jumped to $88.23m in October 2021, then to $108.84m last April following a public-excluded council meeting.
It increased to $110.37m through the "annual process" and then this February the council threw another $16.65m at it because there was "insufficient funding" to complete it.
Under the funding agreements with Crown Infrastructure Partners (CIP), the total maximum amount payable by CIP was $50m.
Chief executive Mike Theelen was asked to prepare a report for the council outlining the "short-term requirements for the management and governance of the alliance [of the council, NZTA and contractors] and implications for long-term capital delivery".
The report was presented to the council on Thursday, which noted arterial road construction had been ongoing for three years and it was now 18 months behind scheduled delivery.
It has a current target date for operation next month, and final completion by "mid-2025".
Mr Theelen said the short-term recommendations had previously been reported, but in terms of long-term requirements, some were dependent on the alliance being a consideration for a model of delivery.
Councillor Gavin Bartlett said his concern was "we never really knew what the original project was going to be".
It had been priced, and started, with just 30% of the design completed.
"I’m not sure if the council, as an elected group, has ever seen ... a set of plans and [been told] ‘this is what you’re going to get for your money’.
"I’m just wondering for future projects if there is some [ability] to do that, so we actually know what we’re getting for money, and we can see what’s changing along the way.
When Cr Quentin Smith asked point-blank if the council would use the alliance model again, Mr Theelen said in some respects it was a "moot question", given he could not foresee any "major government partnership-style funding that would make an alliance an attractive option".
"But ... an alliance is a recognised form of contracting, it continues to be used around the country.
"In my view, we shouldn’t foreclose on that being an opportunity — we should learn from the experience of this one, should we ever consider it."
Later, Cr Smith said the project had been disappointing, but if the council did not learn from the experience "it’s even more disappointing".
"This has been a really tough one for council — the financial budget increases are probably the most difficult part of it.
Cr Niki Gladding said the council had to get its attitude right when things went wrong.
"We need to stop being defensive, because people make mistakes, and people can improve.
"You can’t improve unless you fully grasp the extent to which we stuffed up — that’s us around the table and it’s staff as well."
A key issue was insufficient governance oversight.
