Highway opponents go to court

The construction start date for a new Manawatu¯ to Hawke’s Bay highway is still on track for next year, even though transport officials will have to defend court action taken against the project.

The Department of Conservation and the Queen Elizabeth II Trust have lodged appeals in the Environment Court against the NZ Transport Agency’s designation for Te Ahu a Tu¯ ranga, the planned replacement for State Highway 3 through the Manawatu¯ Gorge.

The gorge was closed in April, 2017, due to landslips and the potential for the hillside to come down on the road.

The agency went through a notice of requirement process in early 2019, asking commissioners to consider its initial plan for the road, which would snake across the Ruahine Range between Ashhurst and Woodville.

The designation was granted in May.

According to court documents, the trust and agency have both appealed against the designation on environmental grounds.

The trust wanted the road designation moved so it avoids two areas of native vegetation protected by covenants.

The current plan failed to comply with local environmental planning rules, which require people to avoid, remedy, mitigate and then offset loss of significant native vegetation, the trust said.

The department, in its appeal submission, said the designation would go across areas with ‘‘high conservation values’’.

However, there was not enough information on how the transport agency would care for those areas or create new conservation areas, the department said.

It wanted more work done to assess the areas and for the hierarchy the trust identified in the local planning rules to be put in place.

Transport agency portfolio manager Sarah Downs said the appeals had not delayed the highway, with construction still expected to start in 2020.

The agency was working on the resource consent process, which could still take place while the designation was appealed, she said.

Usually the consent and notice of requirement processes would take place at the same time, but the agency split them up for Te Ahu a Tu¯ ranga to get it done faster, she said.

A court hearing date has not been set.