Wish list in the post to election winner

Taranaki’s civic leaders have highlighted eight issues for the next incoming government to act on if the region is to fulfil its growth potential.

A four member mayoral forum has called for increased funding for tourism and communications in the region, including upgrading visitor facilities, and road links in Egmont National Park, sealing State Highway 43, improving freedom camping facilities on the coastal highway, and extended rural cellphone coverage.

The forum included Neil Holdom (New Plymouth), Neil Volzke(Stratford), Ross Dunlop (South Taranaki), and Taranaki Regional Council chair David MacLeod.

A previous forum had presented a list of issues to the incoming government in 2014.

These included $135 million commitment to improve SH3 northwards, $17.6m investment to realign the Normanby overbridge and a $140m contestable regional transport funding.

There had also been progress on Treaty of Waitangi settlements with seven out of eight iwi, and there had been formal reconciliation between the Crown and Parihaka.

But the government had been slow to react to increasing a return to the region on royalties for oil and gas, providing a suitable response mechanism for marine oil spills, and improving rural cellphone and broadband coverage, the forum said.

There had also been less than adequate investment to improve tourist facilities in Egmont National Park, and more work was needed on amendments to the Resource Management Act, the forum said.

More work needed to be done in other areas with regional economy having the highest regional GDP per capita as a reliance on dairying and hydrocarbons had made the region vulnerable to world prices.

Tourism now emerged as a sound investment, with the region ranked second best in the world in 2016 by Lonely Planet.

A review of the regional development and tourism strategy was underway.

The current forum has outlined eight priorities for increased government investment including the Taranaki (Pouakai) Crossing, SH43 Forgotten Highway, predator free national park, reserves and farmland, road connections to tourist spots on Mt Taranaki, cellphone and broadband coverage, freedom camping, oil and gas royalties returns, and the ‘blue highway’ shipping link to Nelson.

The government needed to commit more long-overdue expenditure within Egmont National Park to meet visitor demand and promote it as a Great Walk to boost regional economy, the forum said.

Improving road safety and sealing the last 12 kilometres of SH43 was overdue and would enhance tourism and make the freight network more resilient. Taranaki, with its compact scale and united focus, was a good place to start its predator free by 2050 target by supporting initiatives already under way in the region.

Long-term funding was needed to improve access roads on Mt Taranaki which were under pressure and lacked investment. Government funding was required to improve road safety on SH45 coastal highway, and facilities for freedom campers. The next government must look to ensure direct benefit from oil and gas returns to local communities which bear the additional infrastructure and other costs.

A blue highway roll-on/roll-off shipping link to Nelson had been investigated as viable and feasible in the aftermath of the Kaikoura earthquake.