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Rodney Councillor Greg Sayers is urging people to sign a petition in a bid to ensure $124.6 million earmarked for local unsealed roads over the next 10 years is not thrown out by Auckland Council .
He said while Mayor Wayne Brown was backing the funding for rural roads, it was by no means guaranteed to be approved by councillors as part of the 10-year budget package, especially since the government’s decision to axe the Regional Fuel Tax.
“Ending the Regional Fuel Tax means Auckland Transport (AT) has to go back to the drawing board and reprioritise all project funding, including the sealing of gravel roads,” he said.
“Securing the funding will require the Mayor and 20 councillors to approve the allocation of $124.6 million for the Unsealed Road Improvement Programme, and there are many city-based transport projects that urban councillors want funded for their areas.”
Sayers said he decided to set up a petition as it was an easy way to raise awareness of the issue and would exert pressure on the Mayor and AT to act.
“This petition will amplify the voice of ratepayers, and it is easier for people to complete than having to find and then fill out Council’s official feedback forms,” he said.
Sayers said Brown was the first mayor since the Supercity was formed to actively champion the maintenance and sealing of rural unsealed roads, which was a huge advantage. However, people still needed to make their feelings known.
“If a large number of people do sign the petition, then that gives him ammunition and additional incentive to coerce the other councillors and AT that this is a very good way to spend rural ratepayers’ money – and it is overdue, with a backlog of roads requiring sealing.”
Sayers said the online petition only took three minutes to complete and would be open until March 28, the closing date for feedback on all aspects of the 10-year budget, when he would present it to the Mayor and AT. He urged people to sign it themselves and share it with family and friends.
Meanwhile, AT presented an update to Rodney Local Board last month on how and where the Unsealed Road Improvement Programme would be rolled out over the next three years, subject to funding.
AT road corridor asset manager Peter Scott told a board workshop that nearly $25.7 million out of the 10-year total would be spent from 2024 to 2027, with just $6.24 million in the first year.
Wellsford member Colin Smith asked why the money couldn’t be “front-loaded”, with more money spent sooner, but Scott said urban projects such as the city rail link and electric ferries were taking priority.
“It’s purely driven by commitment on the capital works programme,” he said. “That’s a decision at a higher level.”
Scott also faced questioning over why Govan Wilson Road, a no-through road between Matakana and Whangaripo, was relatively high on AT’s priority list and expensive.
Scott explained that it had been a priority historically, was very narrow and was bordered by ecologically sensitive areas. He added that there was a complex national classification system and regional ratings systems that was used to determine each road’s priority for improvements or sealing.
Currently there are around 800km of unsealed roads across Auckland, with around 628 km, or 80 percent of them, in the Rodney area.
Greg Sayer’s petition can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XLFMS7T
AT’s road sealing programme is here: https://at.govt.nz/about-us/street-maintenance/road-sealing/
