Mayors eye Transmission Gully gateway

Ma¯ori carvings or a feature gateway could be built on Transmission Gully if the Porirua and Ka¯piti mayors get their way.

As work continues on the $630 million expressway, a prime spot for artwork marking the border of Porirua City and the Ka¯piti Coast is being decided on.

The Wainui Saddle on the hill above Paeka¯ka¯riki has been identified as a possible location for the project, said Ka¯piti Coast Mayor K Gurunathan.

‘‘That way as you came over, you’d have Ka¯piti Island framed in front of you.’’

The Wainui Saddle Gateway Project is the brainchild of the Wellington Sculptural Highway group, which has lobbied the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) to investigate art features along the new motorway.

On Monday, a NZTA spokesman confirmed a feature wall at the Linden interchange to Transmission Gully was in the early design stage. More details would be available in the next few months, he said.

Gurunathan said it was importantthat funding for the gateway project did not come from ratepayers and that iwi supported the design.

‘‘It could be one structure that shows one way you’re coming to Porirua and the other you’re coming to Ka¯piti.’’

A decision needed to be made on the artwork’s location, so it could be built at the same time as the motorway in a bid to keep costs low.

He hoped a decision would be made by early next year.

Porirua Mayor Mike Tana said he was excited by the project and, like Gurunathan, agreed that funding needed to come from central government.

‘‘I support it 100 per cent. I’d like to see two substantial but not massive pou [carved Ma¯ori land posts] on either side of the top of that maunga and lit up at night.’’

NZTA spokeswoman Emma Speight said the gateway structure proposal was being driven by councils and iwi. Discussions were in the very early stages, she added.