Articles and discussion: Brisbane City Council to sell iconic CityCats

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Brisbane City Council to sell iconic CityCats

Brisbane City Council to sell iconic CityCats
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Hannah Davies

April 20, 2009 12:00am

LORD Mayor Campbell Newman will sell Brisbane's iconic CityCats and lease them back, in a move critics fear will hit ratepayers' hip-pockets.
Under the plan, maintenance of the vessels also will be privatised, prompting concerns over safety standards.

Ratepayers only learnt of the deal when an expression of interest advertisement appeared in The Courier-Mail on Saturday.

It comes just days after the city council revealed it was suffering a massive $45.5 million budget black hole but promised ratepayers services would not be affected.

A spokesman for the Lord Mayor yesterday described the move as "slick book-keeping", saying it would free up cash to buy new CityCats.

But Council Opposition Leader Shayne Sutton said it was an "opportunistic grab for cash" that would prove costly.

"Our CityCats are icons of Brisbane. They should not be sold off behind closed doors to plug holes in Campbell Newman's budget," she said.

"Cr Newman might say that selling off the CityCats will raise money, but leasing them back could end up costing ratepayers even more.

"His focus is clearly on selling-off council assets, not improving council services.

"He has not asked potential buyers to meet any customer service or maintenance standard as part of the sell-off.

"There is no guarantee the sale will not impact on services, passengers and safety."

A spokesman for Cr Newman was yesterday unable to say how much the CityCats would be sold and leased back for, saying those details would be part of the confidential tender process.

Council finance chairman Adrian Schrinner said the move would deliver a record number of new CityCats - taking the total to 19 by 2012.

He likened the move to the 2008 bus deal with former Labor premier Peter Beattie, which saw the then government fund council buses and then lease them back to council.

"It was a good idea then and it is still a good idea now," Cr Schrinner said.

He said the deal would free up millions of dollars.

The council aims to have to the deal finalised by June, pending State Government approval.

[ozbob]

My own personal view is that public transport does not stop at council boundaries.  Time we brought public transport under state control and management so that a proper integrated system can be implemented that is not constrained by council boundaries.

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Council to sell off CityCats

Council to sell off CityCats
Christine Kellett
April 20, 2009 - 7:53AM

Lord Mayor Cambell Newman will sell Brisbane's CityCats in a move council spin doctors have described as an act of "slick bookkeeping".

Under a plan announced yesterday, Brisbane City Council will sell the 13-strong fleet to the State Government, leasing the CityCats back to free up cash to pay for new ones.

A similar lease-back deal with the Beattie Government saw the city's bus fleet sold off in 2008.

The council has previously had to invest tens of millions of dollars up front to pay for new buses and CityCats.

In a press release yesterday, Finance Chair Adrina Schrinner said the deal would allow the council to "have its cake and eat it too."

"This will free up cash to keep up our record public transport spend," Cr Schrinner said.

"This includes 500 news buses over four years and another six new CityCats over the same period - taking the number of vessels in Brisbane's CityCat network to 19 by 2012.

"It was a good idea (in 2008) and it is still a good idea now."

The deal is expected to be finalised by mid year, however the council will not specify how much it is expected to reap from the sale.

The council's Labor Opposition Leader, Shayne Sutton, yesterday slammed the deal as complex and costly and said it did not include any provision for ongoing maintenance.

"Our CityCats are icons of Brisbane. They should not be sold off behind closed doors to plug holes in Campbell Newmans Budget," Cr Sutton said.

"He has not asked potential buyers to meet any customer service or maintenance standard as part of the sell off."

[WTN]

So, who are council selling off the citycats to?  State government?

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

CityCat sale an on-the-run approach to strategic planning

CityCat sale an on-the-run approach to strategic planning
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Chris Hale

April 24, 2009 12:00am

AN on-the-run scheme to sell and lease back Brisbane's fleet of CityCats is unlikely to be a financial panacea or prove popular.

The only answer to Brisbane's short-term funding issues is to re-orient policy and planning to a more sustainable and strategic footing.

Brisbane City seems to be facing budget-balancing issues. Recent months have seen a number of core maintenance issues and ongoing programs being dealt a harsh hand.

The renovation of City Hall is one example ? how many owners of buildings that exceed 60 years in age would be surprised by substantial ongoing investment and maintenance demands?

Cutbacks to pedestrian infrastructure have also been announced. Similarly, it is difficult to imagine that maintaining footpaths in viable condition is not a reasonably central component of local government service delivery.

The Coronation Drive tidal flow system has been switched off, because it "surprisingly" costs money to maintain a modern traffic management system (which also happens to save on the need for new hard infrastructure).

Now we have an on-the-run scheme to sell and lease back CityCats. While the Cats are of questionable value in pure transport terms, their iconic style provides a high-profile means by which Brisbane can claim "river city" status. They also offer one of the few activities that are genuinely worth recommending to out-of-town visitors who need to be impressed.

But sale-and-lease back deals are no path to financial security. These deals always float in times of budgetary strain rather than during sound economic circumstances ? and logic would tell us that if this was such a good deal, it should have occurred long ago.

It seems fairly safe to say that this idea is related to short-term operational budget concerns, rather than being a strategic financial move to improve the bottom line of Australia's largest local government over time.

This reality brings our attention to a broader issue ? the recent inability of BCC to plan strategically or to lead the way for other local governments around our region and throughout Australia by demonstrating best practice.

The council has something of a problem on its hands as a result of election commitments to build new inner-city road infrastructure. Major cities around the world have stopped pursuing new roads close to the CBD because they simply don't provide a workable transport solution.

The Hale Street Bridge is of this nature ? no objective transport planner would have arrived at the idea that this is a priority project. Its limited transport merits (there is another bridge within 200m) are outweighed by negative traffic impacts for local residents. The funding formula is a delicate act ? how many motorists really want to pay a toll when a free option is only two sets of traffic lights away?

Any rational, objective and strategic approach to transport planning would have seen other options with better cost-benefit outcomes and urban design values pursued. But a commitment was given at election time, and the community now seems to be facing the bill for a raft of cumbersome road projects, while essential services and programs will be paying the price.

In any normal set of circumstances, ratepayers would not be impressed by the sell-off proposal on CityCats. These deals invariably increase the cost of providing the service over time, as financiers take a slice of the action. If the deal wasn't good for the financier, they wouldn't be interested.

Brisbane needs to make haste slowly on budgets, economics and infrastructure by returning to square one and beginning to identify which projects and programs are strategically and operationally essential, and which are not. Any rational exercise along these lines would see the TransApex suite dropped down the priority list at the very least.

After that, BCC needs to take a look at its overall performance and level of effort on strategic planning. The city has the chance to be Australia's local government leader, but not when short-term thinking is repeatedly trumping the strategic approach.

Chris Hale is an urban economist with University of Queensland's Centre for Transport Strategy.