NZTA needs to be transparent on Gully delays, costs

There have been reports that the new completion date for Transmission Gully will be extended to 2021.

The original completion date was for last month, but it was apparent to most early in 2019 that this date was never going to be met. In June 2019 a one-month delay to May 2020 was announced and in November 2019 NZTA said November 2020 was the new date.

Again it has been apparent for months, recognising we are going into a winter, that that date won’t happen. While the earthworks and the structures involving 23 bridges are largely complete, most of the paving over the 27km has not been started.

Now it is suggested that, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there will be yet further delays. NZTA has not been transparent about completion dates so far and if there is a further delay it needs to be clear how much is attributable to the pandemic, and how much is due to delays that would have occurred anyway.

NZTA also needs to be transparent about the implications for the project cost increases. These costs have to be met by road users (fuel excise and road user charges) over the next 25 years, which has the effect of cancelling other projects.

NZTA does have a track record – it was not transparent about the costs of the Ka¯ piti Expressway road pavement debacle that was partly funded by road users.

Tim Davin, Tawa

Am I missing something or just overthinking?

New Zealand is in the worst crisis in 74 years, with major health and financial problems bringing our country to its knees. People are dying, jobs have evaporated, a major financial crisis is yet to be determined and families struggle to put food on the table to survive.

However, the news is full of a minor code, the Auckland-based Warriors, escaping to Australia to ‘‘play footy’’.

The biggest international sporting event, the Olympics in Tokyo, is cancelled and the many other world class sports in NZ are back here training at home.

It is time priorities were addressed in the correct order.

Rod Page, Island Bay

It is deeply ironic that Daren Ponter, the regional council chairman, has asked bus commuters to be kind and understanding to let a bus pass when it is full because of capacity reduction at level 2.

For many passengers watching a full bus go past them has been the norm for many months, albeit for a different reason – a seriously underperforming bus service.

But there has been no mention of how passengers are meant to socially distance at the crowded bus hubs. I am thinking specifically of the Newtown hubs, where if people need to keep one metre apart under level 2, they will either be standing on the road or forming a snaking queue for some distance along the footpath.

The hubs were always a terrible idea, now they are also a health hazard. Before level 4, Ponter had assured us that more direct services into Wellington would begin to replace the need to use hubs.

What progress, if any, has been made on this? Getting rid of hubbing is more beneficial now than it ever was.

Miranda Munro, Melrose

David Parker is reported (May 4) as saying that new legislation is expected to be passed next month to allow faster RMA consenting. In response to the damage that the pandemic is having on the economy the Cabinet view is that ‘‘it is justified to put aside the normal rights of participation’’.

Extraordinary times do indeed require extraordinary measures, and I think this is a reasonable proposition in the current circumstances.

However, what is proposed addresses just one side of the equation (the legislative perspective). It removes completely the other side of the equation (the participative perspective), and hands that task to a panel of experts chaired by a judge. In this way the speed of the process will be greatly enhanced.

I suggest that the removal of the democratic process can be alleviated to a degree by the inclusion in the proposed legislation of one or more sections that provide for compensation or penalty to be paid to any individual or group that incurs loss or damage as a result of the

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changed process.

While this may be a tricky exercise, it does at least go some way to ensuring that some semblance of the democratic process is retained.

Kevin McCormack, Johnsonville

With GST returns upon us I am sure many self-employed in meltdown and preoccupied with survival will be assuming IRD will forgive the $50 late fee for returns which miss the May 7 deadline. No ‘‘treating every situation on a case by case basis’’, thank you, minister Stuart Nash, a blanket waiver will mean a little less strain for hundreds and thousands of people.

Norman Smith, Houghton Valley

Greens’ rail plan on the wrong track (May 5) asserts that investment in rail cannot be justified because rail projects are not ‘‘shovel ready’’, have a record of cost overruns, and generate few benefits.

No actual evidence is cited to support this anti-rail diatribe. Every infrastructure project should be assessed on its merits but dismissing rail in this way reads as outright propaganda for the road construction lobby.

What we do know is that under National, the rail network was grossly neglected and run down. That is now being addressed by investment in rail but there is scope for many more worthwhile rail projects to get the go-ahead.

Rail must be an important part of the post-pandemic infrastructure programme if NZ is to get the modern, ‘‘fit for purpose’’ transport system it needs and one that will reduce carbon emissions. Brian Jameson, Thorndon

Economist Jim Rose (Greens’ rail plan on the wrong track,) is using murky evidence. KiwiRail makes a hidden annual contribution to road users, of $1.5 billion a year. Most of it is reduced congestion, the rest safety, emissions and road repairs.

In 2013, a storm washed out the Hutt railway line and the local KiwiRail subsidy stopped. So did Wellington.

Rose might be thinking of the Draft NZ Rail Plan. It is a government document, the final version to be published with the next Government Policy Statement on transport.

He claims that the Greens ‘‘want to cover the country with electric railways’’. Electrification is usual for busy railways. In New Zealand that means HamiltonTauranga, and perhaps also Palmerston North-Wellington. Elsewhere, rail diesel uses substantially less fuel than road diesel, because trains have low rolling resistance.

More rail passengers are good sense in Auckland and Wellington. Auckland is planning for a huge 54,000 passengers an hour from 2024. Wellington is planning for over 30 per cent passenger growth by 2030.

Integrated transport planning can create an integrated system, making the most effective use of each component. Most important of all, it will take the climate emergency seriously.

Kerry Wood, Wellington

The response of Napier’s Te Taiwhenua O Te Whanganui-a-Orotu¯ to the Covid-19 crisis needs to be highlighted and celebrated. Led by chair Ho¯ ri Reti and CEO Tania Eden, the Taiwhenua developed a plan, set up the Ahuriri Hub in central Napier and was up and running by day 1 of level 4.

They assisted in setting up community-based testing station and worked with local health provider Te Kupenga Hauora to made sure the flu vaccine was both available and taken up.

The Ahuriri Hub liaised with organisations including the Ministry of Social Development, Te Kupenga Hauora, social service agencies, iwi and community groups to ensure vulnerable families were identified.

Then, working closely with local supermarkets, Nourished for Nil, local growers and Takitimu Seafoods, they established a food supply chain. Volunteers from the community, including Ma¯ ori wardens and the local Pacifica Kings Church, helped to pack and deliver the packages to those in need.

While some moan about vulnerable communities protecting themselves with checkpoints, here in Napier, in a time of need and crisis, we have seen the leadership and resilience of tangata whenua. Thank you, Taiwhenua. Our city is kinder and fairer because of you.

Mark Cleary, Napier