Expressway shows a way to collaboration
The Kapiti Expressway, a project that started in an adversarial climate, is finishing with a strong degree of community buy-in, says
With the opening of the MacKays to Peka Peka Expressway, the first section of the Wellington Northern Corridor road of national significance, the Kapiti district will finally have a much needed second north-south connection. But it hasn’t all been plain sailing.
For more than 50 years, a second north-south road that would relieve the pressure on State Highway 1 and connect the communities within the district had been on the books.
In 2009, the NZ Transport Agency announced it intended building the MacKays to Peka Peka Expressway, generally following the designation for the just consented Kapiti Coast District’s Western Link Road.
Severing a number of communities on the coast – Waikanae, Paraparaumu and Raumati – the proposed expressway would have a major impact on the district.
Emotions ran high in the Kapiti community – some people opposed the proposed route of the expressway while others were supportive. There were more than 700 submissions on the expressway proposal to the Board of Inquiry which was followed by three months of subsequent hearings.
While the Kapiti Coast District Council was initially in the opposition camp, the big question was do we continue to be an adversary and oppose the expressway or support it and work with central government to gain as many positive outcomes for the district as possible?
Had we continued to oppose the expressway and won, it would have been a pyrrhic victory.
A lack of a second north-south route was choking SH1, adversely affecting the quality of life in our district and constraining economic growth. Also, while there was uncertainty, developers were reluctant to build much needed additional east-west connections.
If we had blocked the expressway, there was no guarantee the Western Link road would go ahead. It was highly unlikely the government would contribute to funding of the proposed link road which the council and ratepayers would not otherwise be able to afford.
Shortly after the announcement was made, the Transport Agency invited the council to join the MacKays to Peka Peka Expressway Alliance – a private sector consortium set-up to design and build the $630 million expressway. This gave the council two options to advocate for community and district outcomes – we could lobby on behalf of our residents inside or outside of the Alliance.
We felt it was critical that our council worked collaboratively with the Transport Agency, and joining the Alliance, we believed, gave the council the best opportunity to provide certainty for our community and realise potential benefits as well as minimising the impacts. However, we made it clear to the Transport Agency that our support for the expressway was conditional upon being able to advocate for and protect the community’s interests.Our membership of the Alliance was contingent upon the Transport Agency and other members of the Alliance agreeing to a number of council objectives. The objectives, which the Alliance Board subsequently adopted as its Guiding Objectives, were based on district-wide community consultation and tied strongly back to the council’s strategy and policy on a number of levels.
These objectives set the overall framework for the project while the Board of Inquiry approved consents for the project with over 300 conditions to address community and environmental concerns.
Seven years after the NZ Transport Agency consulted on route options for the MacKays to Peka Peka Expressway, the project is near completion.
Are we satisfied we did the right thing by joining the Alliance? Are we satisfied we’ve looked after the community’s interests? Yes.
Through effort and careful negotiation, our council has worked collaboratively and in partnership with the Alliance to provide significant social, economic and environmental benefits for the Kapiti Coast community.
We’ve advocated on behalf of our community for measures such as: early property purchase, noise walls, bunds and significant areas of planting to minimise the noise and visual impacts of the expressway; a 16km off-road cycleway, walkway and bridleway; and the use of local suppliers on the project, which has provided local employment and brought economic benefit to the district.
From a ratepayer perspective, we’ve negotiated funding to transform the existing SH1 into a high quality local road, aligned infrastructure upgrades with expressway related construction activity, and upgraded the local roading network at reduced costs.
The council’s knowledge of and connection to the community, and involvement in the design and delivery of the project – not just as a regulator – has been pivotal to the success of the project for the community.
That’s not to say it hasn’t been a contentious project with, for example, more than 100 residential properties purchased to enable expressway construction.
We were very fortunate to have been invited by the NZ Transport Agency to join the Alliance and appreciate the calibre and commitment of the Alliance’s other partners – Fletcher Construction, Beca Planning and Infrastructure, Higgins Group. Also, to have been supported by locally-based Goodmans as the major earthmoving contractor.
Everyone was committed to engaging with our community, doing a highquality job and delivering a project the community would be proud of. This has been an example of central and local government collaboration at its best.
A project that started in an adversarial climate is finishing with a strong degree of community buy-in and a much needed second north-south connection for the district.
Now, as attention moves to the Peka Peka to Otaki section of the Kapiti Expressway, we are intent upon extending this successful model of collaboration with the NZ Transport Agency and its construction partners while we continue to advocate for district and community outcomes.
Pat Dougherty is chief executive of Kapiti Coast District Council.