Scott says
Last month, the Education Minister announced that 350 school property-related projects needed to be reviewed because it wasn’t possible to deliver them within their current budget or timeframe.
Unfortunately, the new schools at Ōmokoroa are among the projects identified, which is a blow to many local families who want certainty that their children can be educated locally. The Minister wants the reviewers to report back in three months, and I remain hopeful the two new schools will go ahead as planned.
It’s important for me to stress that this isn’t connected to any cost savings the Coalition Government is seeking to make to operational expenditure. We are committed to funding school infrastructure as a priority, and the school property capital funding has not been cut. I will continue to advocate for the prioritisation of the two new schools for Ōmokoroa.
In better news, the Government has announced its Policy Statement on Transport, and I’m pleased to see that the Tākitimu Northern Link Stage 2 has been designated as a Road of National Significance. It’s one of 15 projects across the country which will be prioritised to support economic and regional development.
As a regular road user in the Western Bay of Plenty, I know we have our share of transport issues. Many of these are long-standing and are only getting worse as the region grows. Similar situations are occurring across the country, as decades of underfunding and poor planning has left behind a significant infrastructure deficit. The Coalition Government is committed to addressing this issue and we will be laser-focused on delivering a better transport network for the Western Bay and the rest of New Zealand.
The draft Government Policy Statement on transport also fulfils our campaign promise to establish a Pothole Prevention Fund. Potholes became a talking point around the country when it was revealed that under Labour, the State Highway network needed over 62,000 potholes repaired in 2023 – the highest number in ten years. We’re focused on maintaining our State Highways, and we’ve ring-fenced $500 million over three years for the repair and prevention of potholes.