Transport planner raises legal questions of Future Access options

Sunday, 28 June 2020

Nelson transport planner and advocate Bevan Woodward says several options put forward in the latest Future Access project do not meet legal requirements.

A Nelson transport planner is raising concerns about the legality of the latest Nelson Future Access engagement options.

Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) have released an engagement document to the public, looking for feedback on three transport options: four-laning Rocks Rd, building a renamed Southern Link, or adding clearways to both Rocks Rd and Waimea Rd.

However, transport planner Bevan Woodward of BetterWorld consultancy, long-time champion of the Auckland Harbour Bridge Skypath project, said he was concerned that several of the options put forward failed to meet legal obligations.

The Government has a Government Policy Statement (GPS) on land transport, with four overarching objectives on safety, access, environment, and value for money. Under the Land Transport Management Act, the NZTA 'must give effect to the GPS on land transport'.

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The NZTA has outlined the three proposals for Nelson's Future Access Project concentrating on Rocks Rd, Waimea Rd, and the potential new highway following the old railway line.

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The 2018 Government Policy Statement outlines four overarching goals for land transport on safety, access, value for money, and environment.

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Woodward said several of the options put forward to the public meet only some of the draft GPS objectives, and either 'neglect or are detrimental to' the remaining objectives.

He said there was no point in putting out options that did not meet those obligations, as the NZTA could not go ahead with them regardless of their popularity.

The draft Government Policy Statement for 2021-2031 will be finalised in a few months. It expands on the four focus-points of the 2018 GPS.

'At the highest strategic level, the NZTA has this obligation to deliver on the GPS … it's not discretionary for them. They have to put into effect the GPS, full-stop,' Woodward said.

'Nowhere does it say 'public engagement is a vital part of the process, and if the public wants something that overrides the GPS'. That's not how it works.'

He said the widened coastal corridor (four-laning Rocks Rd) and building the new inland route, previously known as the Southern Link, had outcomes that were 'significantly detrimental' to at least one GPS outcome each.

One of the options put forward for consultation was an expanded sea-wall and a four-lane Rocks Rd, costed at $500 million to $540 million.

'The NZTA is thumbing their nose at what the Government has told them to do.'

He noted that in previous NZTA information-packs about the Nelson Future Access project the NZTA said it was 'highly likely that these [GPS] priorities will again change, hence the preferred option will need to be robust, and able to withstand changing Government priorities'.

'NZTA is maybe hoping they may get a more friendly GPS in future; their hopes are going to be dashed.'

In the 2018 GPS it was noted that a 'second-stage' GPS would be required. That GPS is now in draft format as the Government Policy Statement on land transport 2021, but Woodward said this GPS made things 'even worse' for the NZTA.

In the Nelson City Council meeting on June 25, NZTA representative Coral Aldridge explained the 'grey zone' NZTA was operating under while preparing the engagement document.

'The Government Policy Statement is put out every three years, there is a draft Government Policy Statement for the next three years out at the moment, and that will be finalised within the next few months,' she said.

'We are in a little bit of a grey zone at the moment, just because we don't have a finalised Government Policy Statement for the next three-year period, but that's what the agency will give effect to and it's how we prioritise investments.'

Aldridge said the NZTA had 'every intent' that the options put forward in the engagement document were 'consentable and fundable'.

'The one thing with fundable is that they do need to align with the current priorities of the Government, so 'fundable' doesn't mean fundable immediately, but we are confident at the moment that all of the options are both consentable and fundable,' she said.

'Equally important to whether this is the current three-year priority of the Government, is whether the agency will support this option long term.

'Obviously we don't know what the current Government Policy Statement is going to prioritise, but it is an option that when it is a priority for the Government Policy Statement the agency will be willing to recommend it.'

Feedback on the three proposals put forward can be submitted online or via an official feedback brochure available in libraries across Nelson.

The NZTA is hosting drop-in information sessions on Saturday, July 11 at the Nelson Market from 8am–1pm, Wednesday July 15 at Victory Community Centre from 3pm–7pm, and Thursday July 16 at the Beachside Conference and Events Centre between 3pm–7pm.