Bypass hearing postponed

Stephen Daysh is due to begin his role overseeing the hearing related to 60 resource consents tabled by NZTA in connection with a proposed 5.2 km bypass, which included a bridge and tunnel.

The new route would see traffic re-routed to the east side of the existing State Highway 3, over Mt Messenger.

Of the 1190 submissions, about 1154 people supported the work and 20 opposed it.

On May 31, Daysh issued a minute which outlined that he had received a joint memorandum from NZTA and the Department of Conservation asking for a postponement of the hearing.

‘‘The requested deferment is to enable ongoing discussion on ecology matters between the Transport Agency and the Department of Conservation,’’ Daysh’s written minute said.

Along with the hearing, Tuesday’s planned site visit to Mt Messenger by Daysh would also be put off until a later date.

A NZTA spokesperson confirmed that no new date had been set for the hearing.

Meanwhile, a report by Wildland Consultants Ltd dated May 2018 and commissioned by the New Plymouth District Council, has concluded that, based on the existing information, concerns remained about NZTA’s ability to offset the ‘‘significant adverse ecological effects’’ of the proposed work. It pointed to a ‘‘heavy reliance’’ NZTA had on a pest management plan to manage the issues.

This was seen as problematic from the consultants’ perspective for four reasons, including that the plan did not control wasps or mice, both of which were likely to increase at the site when road construction started.

The Wildland consultancy report had been welcomed by authors of a petition, which was launched against the proposed roadworks.

The petitioners, Emily Bailey and Marie Doorbar, claim the proposed road would destroy 44.4 hectares of indigenous forest and wetlands and threaten at-risk endemic species including North Island brown kiwi, Archey’s frog and the NZ longtail bat. At this point, the petition had garnered 983 signatures.

‘‘We are totally frustrated with NZTA’s bulldozer mentality and poor environmental understanding. There is little future in longhaul road transportation but ecological ‘services’ and tourism are huge for Taranaki,’’ Bailey said.

Tom Cloke, Road Transport Association’s Taranaki area executive, was not worried by the temporary setback. He said it was a positive move by the commissioner to try and sort through any potential issues that may arise before the hearing officially got under way. He said by taking this approach at an early stage, it could also avoid any appeals being lodged at a later date.