Planner concerned by $3.7m Gore bridge

A planner is critical of the Gore District Council for not consulting with residents more about its plans to build a new multimillion-dollar bridge.

Even the Hokonui Ru¯nanga declined to write a cultural impact assessment because the council did not talk to them before lodging resource consents.

Planner Nigel Bryce said resource consent for the proposed $3.7 million pedestrian and cycleway bridge across the Mataura River should be declined.

Council chief executive Steve Parry said he was unable to comment on the report or on Bryce’s recommendation.

‘‘The council will be making a presentation at the hearing and then it’s up to the commissioners.’’

In the report, Bryce said adverse effects on people’s views would outweigh the community benefits of the bridge.

The ru¯nanga had previously opposed the bridge’s construction, and it said the request for a cultural impact assessment after submissions had closed was ‘‘superficial engagement in order to tick a box’’.

Bryce’s recommendation was welcomed by Lynn Grey, of the Waimea Plains Landscape Preservation Society.

‘‘It’s good to see [he] has identified the failings of the application,’’ she said.

The report recommends that the council seeks further advice about the effects of the project on tangata whenua cultural landscape values.

A joint resource consent hearing will be held on December 16.

If built, the bridge would be the country’s longest and tallest cable-stayed bridge at 39 metres high and 90m long.