Viewpoint – Infrastructure emergency yet?

According to Auckland Council’s Research Unit, by 2050 there will be another 7300 homes in Warkworth and the population is expected to rise from 5000 to around 25,000. Local planners believe this population boom will happen much sooner, with thousands of homes under resource consent application already. We only need to look at the earthworks about us to know this has started.

All these new residents will require water, wastewater, electricity, broadband and transport. If our preferred transport option is road transport for private vehicles, that alone will require billions of dollars of new investment to cater for the average of two cars per additional household, travelling our local roads. As fast as we open up new road links and widen existing routes, they will be filled with additional traffic. And all those cars will be looking for a place to park – whether it’s to shop, work or visit beaches and sports parks. Planning for the required infrastructure and identifying how this will be funded is, therefore, well overdue.

Supporting Growth is an alliance between Waka Kotahi, Auckland Transport, planners and civil engineers, whose purpose is to identify and route-protect the preferred future transport networks in Auckland. For the Warkworth area, this is the western connector, Sandspit link road, permanent park-n-ride facilities, and an outer western link to tie in with a southern motorway interchange. None of these projects are currently identified in the Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP), the 10-year budget that prioritises Auckland Council’s investment into transport infrastructure in agreement with central government via Waka Kotahi. The processes involved take years before the projects can make their way into that RLTP and have budget allocated to them. We are told that they are all 10, 20 and 30 years away.

How can we find the necessary funding to advance this much needed infrastructure? Who should pay – the taxpayer, the ratepayer, the road user or the developer? How much of the budget should be contributed by central versus local government? There are solutions: Longer terms for infrastructure bonds, congestion charging, central government sharing the GST collected on activities related to new construction such as consent fees and building materials with councils, and how about all that extra GST being collected on increased fuel prices?

Otherwise, there is simply not enough money to close the infrastructure deficit gap by taking only from ratepayers and taxpayers. Scratching around for “savings”, no matter how necessary, won’t cut it. The solutions will take a lot of work. They require a collaborative approach across politicians at every level and of every stripe. Endless confrontation, obstruction and finger pointing is only going to delay what is inevitably required and bring that potential infrastructure crisis ever closer.

Meanwhile, consultation on Supporting Growth for Warkworth is open until June 7. Go to https://haveyoursay-supportinggrowth.nz/planning-warkworths-transport-future to view the plans and have your say.