Britomart, Auckland's Future (1995) - Auckland City Council promotional video

In 1995, then-mayor Les Mills proposed “the most visionary developments that your council has ever proposed.” The “Britomart” scheme that was proposed included a five-story underground transport interchange, major high-rise development, the undergrounding of Quay Street and new public spaces. The project was to have five levels underground. This would provide 2900 carparks, a train station with four rail lines, the provision for light rail, an underground bus terminal, and the undergrounding of Quay Street. The ground level development included a public plaza across Quay Street with traffic along a stretch of Quay Street being undergrounded. The main pedestrian entry was to be through the historic CPO, with two more entries from the public plaza above the terminal. Opposition to this Britomart Project included concerns about a lack of public consultation, bus operator issues around the new underground terminal, the large financial risk, and the Resource Consent for the de-watering of the site being declined. The Auckland City Council reluctantly committed $125 million to the transport centre but developer Jihong Lu missed contractual deadlines and the project was cancelled. A new council was elected in October 1998 who resolved to rethink the 1995 project, the new Major Christine Fletcher promised to “open the books” on Britomart. In 1999 there was a recommendation to proceed after public consultation on another version of the project. Text sourced from britomart.co.nz (sadly now offline)