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Residents along the designated route for the Warkworth to Te Hana motorway will receive notification from the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) this month that their properties are scheduled for purchase.
The NZTA is applying for resource consent from Auckland Council for the motorway.
The application notes the tentative start date for motorway construction is 2030 and the bulk of property purchases will not take place until 2027.
However, the NZTA can make an earlier property purchase on hardship grounds if the landowner is affected by factors such as illness. They have already bought 16 properties.
Once the consent application is lodged this month, landowners are also entitled to apply to the Environment Court to have their property immediately purchased by NZTA if they can demonstrate that they are unable to sell on the open market because of being on the designated route.
For those who might think about holding out until after construction begins, the NZTA has the power under the Public Works Act to compulsorily acquire the property.
There are 91 properties spread across 1347ha along the designated route, and the NZTA predicts it will cost $87 million to acquire them all.
The entire motorway project is estimated to cost between $1.7 and $2.1 billion.
The project funding model is still to be decided and theoretically could include a public-private partnership, similar to the tolled Johnstones Hill Tunnels.
As part of the application process for the resource consent, the NZTA has prepared a detailed business case analysis for the indicative route.
The business case predicts the new motorway will reduce road closures buy 90 per cent, reduce deaths and serious injuries by 100 per cent and increase GDP by 30 per cent, due to increased freight accessibility.
Overall, it estimates that it would generate $696 million in economic benefits to the Warkworth-Wellsford area.
Copies of the consent application for the project are expected to be available at the Warkworth and Wellsford libraries by the end of the month. Council is likely to call for submissions on the notified consent sometime in the middle of this year.
To view the full business case, see this story: localmatters.co.nz
