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An attempt to secure more money from general rates for road sealing in rural Rodney went awry at a Rodney Local Board meeting on April 20.
Wellsford subdivision representative Colin Smith moved a Notice of Motion that $150 per rateable property in Rodney be ring-fenced to seal gravel roads.
“Eighty per cent, or about 700kms, of unsealed roads in Auckland are in Rodney,” Smith said.
He said the lack of funding for seal programmes was impacting life across the board in rural communities – polluting harbours, impacting rural production and compromising people’s health. He felt rural ratepayers weren’t getting a fair deal, with the bulk of rates being spent on urban-centric projects.
His motion noted that an intended provision of $121 million over 10 years for road improvements in the current Regional Land Transport Plan had been reduced to $40 million, with front-loading of only $6 million in the first three years.
Smith’s motion also stated that rural ratepayers made up roughly half of all ratepayers in Rodney.
Therefore, they contributed around 50 per cent of the Rodney Local Board Transport Targeted Rate.
However, the targeted rate had been applied principally to benefit ratepayers in urban areas, he said, although fellow Board members disagreed that buses and footpaths benefited only urban ratepayers.
Smith’s notice of motion stated that having an equivalent sum from rates revenue ring-fenced for spending on road sealing, principally to benefit rural ratepayers, would re-establish fairness across rural/urban groups in Rodney and would add around $4 million annually to the Regional Land Transport Plan spend.
However, fellow Board member Danielle Hancock gazumped Smith’s notice of motion by moving an amendment, which was seconded by Beth Houlbrooke.
Hancock said the Board needed to be clear about following proper process and could only “advocate”, as there was no formal consultation on the Regional Land Transport Plan at this time. Houlbrooke described the wording of the Notice of Motion as “clumsy”.
Hancock’s amendment requested that the $66.7 million that was allocated for additional seal extensions across Auckland in the 2018-2028 Regional Land Transport Plan for 2023-2028 be reinstated in the 2024-2034 Regional Land Transport Plan.
Additionally, the amendment called on the Rodney ward councillor to support the request and present the details of the resolution to the appropriate Governing Body committee for consideration.
The amendment was passed with only Smith voting against it. He then attempted to move a second amendment, but this was disallowed under Standing Orders (the rules by which Council and Board meetings are run).
