Missing Link in National road petitions
National is not petitioning for the new government to build Nelson’s Southern Link.
The party’s transport spokeswoman Judith Collins has announced plans for a suite of petitions that local National MPs will present to the Government later in the year backing individual roading projects it is concerned might be halted.
But despite Nelson MP Nick Smith’s long-running commitment to building a new arterial route – a promise that formed part of his election campaign last year – the Southern Link isn’t on the list.
His opponents have been ‘‘surprised’’ to see it missing, giving he has backed the project through several elections.
Instead, Smith said he would give the government ‘‘space’’ to deliver on its pre-election promise to explore alternatives to a new arterial highway.
He said his supporters would not see the lack of petition as him backing off.
‘‘I’ve made plain I will continue to advocate for it, but equally you need to acknowledge that National was not able to form a government and deliver on its commitment to build that road in this term.’’
‘‘I suspect the new government will find no better alternative for dealing with Nelson’s congestion issues than the Southern Link,’’ he said.
Smith said National had launched petitions in areas where NZTA had committed to specific roading projects but the new government had said they were to review them.
‘‘The Southern Link is in a slightly different category in that the new coalition government had given a commitment that it would be exploring alternatives and establishing a committee to investigate those.’’
National announced in the leadup to the September election last year that if re-elected they would build a new arterial route through Victory within their term of government, fast-tracking NZTA’s timeline.
NZTA’s most recent report recommended that before a new route was designed, improvements should first be made to the existing routes, including clearways on Waimea Rd and Tahunanui Drive.
During the lead-up to the election, Smith said the interim measures ‘‘were not realistic’’.
However, Smith now says he isn’t against NZTA’s suggestions. ‘‘I am not opposed to roading improvements that will ease the congestion in the short-term, providing they do not compromise what I believe is the only long-term solution and that is a further highway into the city.’’
Labour’s Nelson spokesperson Rachel Boyack was surprised the Southern Link hadn’t made it onto National’s petition list, given it had been a ‘‘pet-project’’ for Smith.
But she said his change of tack was the ‘‘right thing to do’’ because Labour had the mandate to govern. She encouraged Smith to also put forward alternative solutions.
Boyack said Labour and the Greens had made no commitment to a specific committee, but during the election campaign she had committed to working with ‘‘anyone who was willing’’ to look at other solutions.
‘‘Public transport has to play a big component in easing congestion,’’ she said.
There were too many people driving solo in cars, and if there were more buses coming more regularly, especially around the Tahunanui beach area, Nelson’s congestion could be improved.
She said both Nelson City Council and Tasman District Council needed to work together on progressive plans, with an ‘‘openness’’ to public transport, and central government would play a role too.
As for Boyack’s role, she would be advocating to Transport Minister Phil Twyford about Nelson’s transport issues, making a case for the need for public transport and interim measures.
‘‘I would expect that NZTA will continue to work through its processes and obviously the minister will have a number of projects that are going across his desk . . . ’’ She would be encouraging the Labour government to let NZTA ‘‘get on’’ and do the work it recommends needs to be done.
Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese said she wasn’t surprised National was not petitioning for the Southern Link, as NZTA was progressing with the next stage of its investigation into a new arterial, and it was ‘‘business as usual’’ from the council’s perspective.
Craig Dennis, from Southern Link advocacy group Progress Nelson Tasman, wasn’t aware of National’s petitions, so he wouldn’t comment on whether Nelson should have been included.
However he did say it was ‘‘disappointing’’ if a new Nelson arterial route wasn’t being advocated for as a priority.
‘‘In terms of bringing focus to our needs,’’ he said.
‘‘We still say that having looked at all options, all the interim measures that are proposed are just interim, they’re not long-term measures.’’
He was concerned about businesses disruption and harm caused by clearways, and said Nelson’s congestion issues couldn’t be solved by public transport, cycleways, and encouraging people to live closer to where they worked.