Fears road plan will be ‘half baked’

There are fears one of the key plans for creating transport links across swathes of the lower North Island will come out half-baked.

Rangitıkei Mayor Andy Watson raised his concerns with the rest of the Horizons Regional Council regional transport committee yesterday.

The committee features mayors and representatives from Horowhenua, Rangitıkei, Manawatu, Whanganui, Tararua and Ruapehu, who work together on transport links between the regions.

One of the committee’s biggest pieces of work is the Regional Land Transport Plan.

The plan contains all the plans and aspirations for transport projects for the next decade, but is rewritten every six years.

The last plan made note of the need to improve road safety between taki and Levin, replace the Whirokino Trestle bridge south of Foxton and get more cycleways built.

Steps have been taken to address all three of those issues: the taki to north of Levin highway is being investigated and safety improvements made to current roads; the Whirokino Trestle has been replaced; and there are more places to cycle.

The six-yearly rewrite is in progress, and due to be given to the NZ Transport Agency in April next year.

Despite that seemingly long timeframe, senior transport manager Leana Shirley said it was going to be tight getting everything done in time.

The coronavirus lockdown had not helped things, she said.

Horizons councillor Sam Ferguson said he was concerned to see public consultation on the plan was down to take place in December and January.

Information and services manager Ged Shirley said those working on the plan were ‘‘boxed in a little bit’’, and other councils had the same problem.

The best thing was for council staff to keep an eye on how the planning went and try to be flexible.

Watson said he was worried about the plan turning out undercooked. He pointed out Palmerston North and Manawatu¯ mayors Grant Smith and Helen Worboys, respectively, were not able to be at yesterday’s meeting. There were few workshops planned between then and the plan being signed off, and people needed to be available, he said.

‘‘I’m nervous because it’s such an important deal.’’

‘‘I’m nervous because it’s such an important deal.’’ Andy watson

Rangitıkei Mayor