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The Warkworth to Te Hana motorway does not have confirmed funding but a route has been designated and the NZTA has tentatively set the start date at 2030.
Residents on the designated route for the proposed Warkworth to Te Hana motorway want to know just how hard up they have to be to qualify for “hardship” with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA).
According to the NZTA, it can purchase land on the designated route early if the landowner is experiencing hardship, although criteria appears to be vague.
Justin Robertson, of Wellsford, says he bought a property on the designated route two years ago on the understanding that only half the property would be needed for the motorway.
“This suited our plans, so we purchased the property expecting to live out our lives here,” he says.
“A few months after moving in, we received a letter stating that our entire property will needed. Trying to talk to them about it is a joke. My chickens are better communicators and show more empathy.”
Wendy Crow-Jones and husband Neil Jones have perhaps the largest land holding on the designated route.
Their 607ha farm is set to be split down the middle, with roughly 109ha swallowed up by the designation.
“It cuts across some of our best dairy farming land. It is a hard pill to swallow,” Wendy says.
With their land being split into two smaller farms, Wendy says neither farm will be economical to run, as shared facilities will be divided by the four-lane motorway.
“It would obviously be impossible to move stock or shift hay across that,” she says.
As a result, the Jones have had to take on $5 million in debt to buy land outside the designation to make their farm viable again.
But Wendy says other landowners have been unable to sell to the NZTA and there are no other buyers because of the designation.
“For older landowners who want to sell up and move to be near their grandkids, their asset has become a millstone around their neck,” she says.
But Angela Green, formerly of Wayby Valley, is fortunate to have been one of the 16 landowners whose property was purchased on grounds of hardship.
Angela says she met the NZTA’s criteria because she is over 70, has little in the way of financial assets and was awaiting knee replacements.
“I can’t say the experience was nice. It was upsetting after having lived there for 21 years,” she says.
“However, the NZTA was spectacular, and helped us to navigate the negotiations with Land Information New Zealand (LINZ).”
Angela says the process took six months of protracted dealings and negotiations with the NZTA, third party valuers and LINZ.
She hired a valuer who estimated the value of their 0.4ha property at $780,000. However, an Auckland-based valuer hired by LINZ valued the property at $340,000.
After Angela consulted three independent valuers, the NZTA agreed to her figure.
The NZTA even paid for the valuers, lawyers, the LIM and an engineer’s report on the new property, as well all costs associated with moving.
“If you meet the criteria of age, infirmity and assets, don’t give up hope,” Angela says.
“But if you are healthy and rich, you are flat out of luck.”
In March, NZTA said it would consider cases individually and hardship could include factors such as illness.
