No bypass progress
It’s official. The wanted, needed and hard-fought for Katikati bypass is not considered by the NZ Transport Agency or the Government as an investment priority for the 2018-21 National Land Transport Programme.
So its traffic jams, noise, heavy trucks, danger to pedestrians and road users continue for the foreseeable future. To add insult to injury NZTA say they won’t be considering construction until after 2028.
No wonder locals and visitors alike are angry. They have every right to be.
Along with hundreds of others I fought hard to get a firm commitment from the last Government that not only would we get our bypass but we’d get a brand new four-lane highway between Katikati and Tauranga.
Make no mistake, had Winston Peters decided to go with National instead of Labour and the Greens, construction would have already commenced.
Instead we have an intolerable further delay.
This is such disappointing and frustrating news but I’m pleased to report that the land designated for the bypass will remain ready and waiting for a change of Government.
NZTA and the current Government say we won’t get a bypass for at least 10 years… the really good news is the next election is just two years away!
Our region has been sold out to pet projects in Auckland. The Labour-led Government appointed by Winston Peters would rather spend billions of taxpayer dollars on trams along Auckland’s Dominion road and a train track to Auckland airport from the city centre.
I’ve invited the Minister of Transport, Phil Twyford, to stand on the footpath down on the main street of Katikati for 10 or 15 minutes during the summer peak to get a sense of the real problems we face. I’m not holding my breath in the hope we’ll see him here anytime soon.
More strikes coming
had during the previous nine years. Unions are feeling emboldened and empowered. You only have to see news reports every day of another strike and more inconvenience to ordinary New Zealanders.
The Government has created a sense of high expectation for their union mates and so it’s no wonder the unions are making the most of it.
Already we’ve had union leaders promising that they are gearing up for 2019 and that next year will be a big year for strikes.
What concerns me most is the brazen way unions officially proclaim that their strike actions are designed to cause the maximum disruption and inconvenience to employers.
When they do that there’s an obvious impact that goes well beyond employers and their day to day business operations. Strikes like that hurt and inconvenience the customers of those businesses or state agencies.
I’m sure most New Zealanders don’t want a return to the industrial strife of the 1970s and that most of us thought we were well past that kind of negative thinking and action.