Walkway now, gussy it up later
With inflation surging and construction costs rising, a Waitara councillor has called for a basic extension of the New Plymouth Coastal Walkway to his town to forge ahead on its existing $25 million budget, with any expensive bells and whistles added later.
Tony Bedford said there was a need to ‘‘anchor costs’’ already tagged to council projects to avoid any escalation that would put them at risk of becoming future ‘‘political footballs’’.
For the walkway extension from Bell
Block to Waitara,
Bedford said that meant sticking to the $25m already allocated and buying the land and establishing the basic track, with any ‘‘enhancements’’ added as council could afford them.
The cost for the walkway extension, which has been in the pipeline for years, is expected to be shared between the New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, with $12m on the table from the latter, subject to it approving a business case.
The project is just one of 28 large strategic projects and work programmes NPDC included in its 2021-2031 Long Term Plan.
The 10km walkway extension was recently name-checked by mayoral hopeful, and sitting councillor, Murray Chong as one to scale back as a means to develop his idea for a WaitaraNew Plymouth-inglewood passenger rail link.
Bedford, who is standing for re-election in the north ward, said he was ‘‘absolutely concerned’’ about cost pressures on council projects. He said with the state of the economy and high inflation, NPDC and its ratepayers were equally impacted by spiralling costs.
‘‘They’re hit in the pocket, but so are all these projects.’’
New Plymouth mayor Neil Holdom said both Waka Kotahi and central government were already being lobbied for more money for the walkway extension.
‘‘At one point during discussions with Waka Kotahi we were advised NPDC may be eligible for up to 75% in Waka Kotahi subsidies, given the Government’s commitment to building more cycleways and walkways and encouraging active transport. However, at this point in time they have yet to commit to that,’’ Holdom said.
The council would continue to argue for more money as the project had ‘‘clear benefits’’ for the people of Waitara, Bell Block and
the wider district, he added.
Holdom said ‘‘stepping up with a significant additional investment’’ seemed a prudent move, and one which also aligned to the ‘‘Government’s much-touted focus on decarbonisation and cycleways’’.
But Bedford described the hope of getting more money from Waka Kotahi for the walkway project as a ‘‘dream’’.
‘‘I think that would be pennies from heaven that won’t fall’’.
He said any extra funding for the district from the transport agency should be used to fix roads, a subject Holdom had also long championed.
In a statement, Waka Kotahi confirmed it had earmarked $12m for the Coastal Walkway extension.
Of that, $339,000 had been ‘‘committed to date’’ for the development of a business case.
‘‘Once approved, the agency would confirm the exact funding allocation.
New Plymouth MP Glen Bennett, of Labour, said he was exploring funding streams that could assist. ‘‘My challenge is to see if there are funding options that don’t take anything from any existing projects and have long-term sustainability targets.’’