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Rodney Councillor Greg Sayers says the release of Auckland Council’s draft Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) confirms his worst fears – proposing millions of dollars of additional funding for Auckland’s CBD, while simultaneously outlining devastating cutbacks in Rodney.
Cr Sayers first raised his concerns following the release of Council’s draft 10-year budget in February.
The recent release of the draft RLTP, also covering the next 10 years, has done nothing to allay his concerns.
“Both are depletion budgets for Rodney and are heartbreaking with funding being diverted into more public transport within the CBD for electrified buses, trains, ferries, more cycleways and separated bus lanes,” he says.
Meanwhile, funding for Rodney’s unsealed roading network has been slashed from $121 million to $40 million over 10 years.
“This budget is disastrous for Rodney’s rural roads which are already not receiving the level of funding and services required to keep them safe to drive on,” Cr Sayers says.
“I’m asking the Mayor why would he expect the councillor for Rodney to support his five per cent rates increase if people are getting less.”
Cr Sayers says to add insult to injury, Council has proposed increasing Auckland Transport’s renewals budget (up 29 per cent) and operational budget (up 11 per cent) – budgets that could have been used to replenish metal and clear drains on unsealed roads, but funding for these activities is actually proposed to decrease by about 20 per cent.
Cr Sayers also draws no comfort from the fact that $18.8 million is indicated in the RLTP for an upgrade to Warkworth’s Hill Street intersection, noting that Council wants the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to entirely fund the upgrade, but has secured no agreement from it to do so.
Moreover, once the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway is completed in May next year, the Hill Street intersection no longer forms part of the State Highway.
“Sources at NZTA tell me that once the motorway opens, they will be handing Hill Street over to Auckland Transport and are only prepared to complete a few minor upgrades before doing that,” Cr Sayers says.
Cr Sayers says Mahurangi’s wider roading network needs are also neglected in the RLTP and this at a time when Warkworth’s population alone is expected to grow from 4000 to 25,000 over the next 30 years, putting an extra 57,000 cars on local roads.
He complains that missing from the RLTP is a Sandspit link road (linking Matakana Road to Sandspit Road) and a southern interchange (a connection linking the south of Warkworth to the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway).
Cr Sayers says the Western link road (linking the existing SH1 to Mansel Drive in Warkworth) is the only new road identified for Mahurangi in the next 10 years and even this road has no confirmed funding.
But Mayor Phil Goff emphatically denies Rodney is missing out, pointing to the fact that it is benefiting from the $878 million Puhoi to Warkworth motorway project, as well as the $62 million Matakana link road.
He adds that funding is included in the draft RLTP for route designation for the Warkworth to Wellsford highway, as well as route protection for the Western link road.
“It is wrong to suggest no money has been identified for growth projects in Rodney. It is also wrong to suggest that the next 10-year transport plan is focused on the CBD, as transport projects are proposed across the region,” Mr Goff says.
“I can understand councillors wanting more and better investment for their areas – that’s fair enough.
However, they can’t demand this and at the same time vote against the very revenue measures needed to pay for them.”
Mr Goff says Rodney’s roading and sealing problems date back to legacy issues from previous councils prior to amalgamation.
“Unlike other rural areas such as Franklin, which raised a targeted rate to seal most of its roads, Rodney did not invest adequately in road works,” he says.
The public has until May 2 to provide feedback on the RLTP.
Info: https://at.govt.nz/about-us/transport-plans-strategies/regional-land-transport-plan/
