Environment Court rules in favour of taking bypass land
The final 11 hectares of land needed to complete the Mt Messenger SH3 bypass project can be compulsorily acquired through the Public Works Act, the Environment Court has ruled.
This is the last legal hurdle for the Te ara o Te Ata project, which has been beset with court challenges, appeals and protests since it was announced in 2016.
The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) said the legal issues had a cumulative impact on the cost and rate of progress for the north Taranaki project, which was last budgeted to cost $280 million.
“For example, a $37m increase is the estimated impact of NZTA being unable to start work on the land in question during the 2023/2024 summer construction season alone,” NZTA general manager transport services Brett Gliddon said in a press release.
In November Caleb Parry, manager of the Mt Messenger alliance construction group, said the project would take four more years once the land was acquired.
The land belonged to Tony and Debbie Pascoe and was bought by Tony Pascoe’s parents in the 1950s. He had lived there all his life.
The couple’s years-long fight against the Government’s proposal to take their land for the 6km Mt Messenger bypass project ended in the Environment Court last week.
Yesterday the court released its findings and ruled against the Pascoes.
The Environment Court judgment looked at whether taking the land was fair and if sufficient information was provided by NZTA to the Pascoes to enable them to participate effectively in the purchase negotiations.
The court was satisfied taking the land was fair in “that it enables the replacement of a section of state highway which is no longer fit for purpose with a new section of road for which resource consents and a notice of requirement have been approved.” The land was found by NZTA’S and the Minister for Land Information’s advisers to be the most viable or feasible route for the proposed road, the judgment said.
The court was also satisfied the process was “undertaken in good faith and even-handedly by the minister’s accredited independent property consultant”.
NZTA welcomed the Environment Court ruling.
Gliddon said the ruling supported the approach and actions taken by NZTA and the Crown over many years.
“This is the last parcel of land needed at the northern end of the bypass. It is always our preference to purchase property by agreement rather than compulsory acquisition. In good faith, and in compliance with the legislation, since 2017 we have made extensive efforts to acquire land by agreement.”
So far, 13% of earthworks had been completed and construction of the project’s 235m tunnel was about to begin.
New Plymouth mayor Neil Holdom said the Environment Court decision was a huge relief that hopefully provided the certainty to get the project moving into top gear.
“There’s a real concern we would lose another construction season if we couldn’t get the northern land.”
Holdom said he was sympathetic to the Pascoes. “It’s always challenging in these situations.”
Now the focus should be on the project to get a quick, efficient and safe route north, Holdom said.
When funding for the bypass project was first announced in 2016 the budget was $90m. That ballooned out to $280m pre-covid. NZTA has not released an updated cost this year.
The Pascoes could not be contacted for comment.