Broken Kaikoura left out in election
Sophia Smedley doesn’t know what people are talking about down at the local pub in Kaikoura. The Kaikoura Bakery co-owner is too busy for such social trips, tied up by work and the recovery from November’s magnitude-7.8 earthquake.
Smedley says that when immediate life is so stressful, politics is in the background for many in the town. Between rebuilding homes, businesses and infrastructure, there is little time to worry about much else.
The Kaikoura electorate is the fourth-largest in the country by area, spanning from Cook Strait down to the Ashley River, Canterbury. Since it was created in 1996 it has always been a blue seat, which is unlikely to change.
Many people who are open about quakerelated hardships close up when asked about the upcoming vote. There are other things to be concerned about.
‘‘I think for business owners here particularly, a lot of earthquake repairs are starting to come up, and the logistics of getting that done are a bit of a nightmare,’’ says Smedley.
‘‘I’m a bit like a lot of people here in that we’ll definitely be voting but it is in the background because there’s a lot of other things going on.’’
She is concerned Labour will ‘‘reduce the rainy-day fund National’s worked so hard to build up’’ if they are successful in September – a fund that would be a necessity if another disaster strikes.
On the quiet stretch of State Highway 1 between Kaikoura and the Waipara turnoff for the South Island’s alternative route sits the small settlement of Greta Valley.
Before the November quakes, a constant stream of cars, trucks and buses used to roar past, travelling between Christchurch and the ferries in Picton. Now, you can drive kilometres at a time without seeing another car.
For those businesses that rely on passing cars for trade, times are tough. The cafes and gift shops have cut hours and lost staff to adapt to the new reality.
Fossil Point Cafe owner Kim Henderson feels the small communities have been ‘‘fairly neglected’’ by the Government and ‘‘still don’t have the voice’’ they should have. ‘‘A lot of the local community have been quite vocal regarding the lack of Government interest.’’
Henderson says the recovery would be ‘‘a topical part of the conversation to do with the elections’’, as it was following the Christchurch quakes, but so far it has not been the case.
The area has ‘‘pretty staunch blue supporters’’ and Henderson does not think the Government’s earthquake response will change how people in the region vote.
Henderson’s cafe now opens three days a week, instead of the former seven. She says it’s hard to keep morale up when some staff have had their hours cut so drastically, but ‘‘you have to’’.
Mt Lyford skifield owner Doug Simpson has rebuilt about 80 per cent of his homestead since the quakes. We’ll definitely be voting but it is in the background because there’s a lot of other things going on.
‘‘We had to jack the whole top storey back into place and re-clad and re-brace and get rid of all the gib and replace it with plywood.’’
Simpson, who also owns restaurants in Kaikoura, says the Government has done ‘‘pretty jolly well’’ in its recovery efforts so far.
He says its helped that the Government coffers are in a reasonable state, but, like Smedley, he worries what will happen to the funds they have built up.
‘‘I just hope if there’s a change of government, the next lot don’t go and blow all the money and then there will be no money left for an event like this.’’
Simpson says the Government should ‘‘stay on track’’, but does worry possible immigration changes will make it harder for some critical industries to find staff. As truckie Marsh Graham creeps up Saddle Rd he is taunted by a driver tooting frantically behind him.
The hills are capped lightly with snow on this cold August day, and the view of numerous wind turbines is pretty.
But things become heated as the tooting car draws closer and Graham’s truck battles to crawl up the temporary highway, an alternative route after the Manawatu Gorge was closed on April 24.
Graham reaches the top of the scenic track and the pressure lifts as the impatient driver shoots past him – but not before flipping the bird.
Riding along with the Mainfreight contractor, the effects of the State Highway 3 closure are stark.
For the past 10 years Graham has been delivering goods to small businesses in Dannevirke daily or twice-daily from Palmerston North. It’s a run he hopes to continue until he retires in seven years as the people are kind and the drive is usually enjoyable.
But increased diesel costs of $300 a month and more wear and tear on his truck will take their toll if Saddle Rd is closed for years to come, he says.
During the 2011/12 closure, which lasted 14 months, Graham was more than $20,000 out of pocket. But he kept the Dannevirke run in the hopes the Government would fix Saddle Rd and start work on an alternative route.
Fast-forward five years, and We are there and back every day and we haven’t got a decent road. Saddle Rd is potholed, narrow, and the Government is only just picking out the best permanent alternative to SH3 on paper.
In July, Transport Minister Simon Bridges announced a decision on a new route would be made by December and that it would be ready to use within three years.
A few days later, Labour’s thenleader Andrew Little promised to have it ready to go in well under three years.
Graham fears that both parties are full of false promises as the plans for an alternative route have been sitting with NZTA for five years.
The Saddle Rd ‘‘goat track’’, which NZTA encourages drivers to use in the meantime, is dangerous, slow, and wears down his truck.
There should have been a flat road built years ago, he says. But truck drivers who pay heavy road-user charges aren’t being heard.
‘‘We are there and back every day and we haven’t got a decent road. We deserve that.’’
Graham isn’t alone in his fight to be heard by the Government.
Fish’n’chips shop owners John Gooding and Judy Thomson are
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