Horizons opposes toll for Te Ahu a Turanga highway

Wednesday, 25 September 2024

National Party MP for Wairarapa Mike Butterick speaks at a public meeting in Woodville about the proposed toll for the Te Ahu a Turanga/Manawatū Tararua Highway.

Horizons Regional Council is adding its voice to the chorus of opposition to proposals to toll the Te Ahu a Turanga/Manawatū Tararua Highway, the replacement road for the Manawatū Gorge.

The regional council voted at its meeting on Tuesday to support the Tararua District Council in its stand against the proposed toll.

Chairwoman Rachel Keedwell said the communities each side of the new highway between Manawatū and Tararua were feeling an immense sense of betrayal.

They had put up with costs and inconvenience for seven years after the gorge road closed, and only now when completion of the new highway was within sight had the prospect of a toll been raised.

Horizons Regional Council chairwoman Rachel Keedwell has spoken out against the proposal for a toll on the Manawatū Gorge replacement highway. (File photo)

The proposed $4.30 toll for light vehicles was more expensive than any other toll in the country, and for someone commuting daily for a minimum-pay job, that would take 8% of their income.

“It would be fine if there were safe and easily accessible alternatives,” she said.

But neither the Pahīatua Track nor the Saddle Rd could fit that description, and the Saddle Rd, accessed through Ashhurst, should be returned to being a back country road, she said.

Keedwell said what was clouding the issue was a lack of information about NZ Transport Agency’s assessment of how many vehicles would use the road, how many would use the alternatives if there was a toll, and how much revenue it would raise.

Large turn-out to a public meeting in Woodville to discuss a proposed toll on the soon to be opened Te Ahu a Turanga, Manawatū Tararua Highway.

The agency had not released that assessment.

She said it was worrying that the toll would put a barrier between people from Tararua and their main healthcare providers in Palmerston North.

Tararua-based councillor Allan Benbow said he was absolutely opposed to the toll, and thought investing in systems to collect the money was “just stupid” when the country already had proven ways of raising revenue for roading, even if they were not currently set high enough.

Cr Wiremu Te Awe Awe said he was brassed off the Government had come in with the proposal at the last minute.

“From an iwi perspective — now you know how we feel dealing with the Government.”

The proposal to toll Te Ahu a Turanga comes as the highway nears completion.

Cr Sam Ferguson said it was disappointing there was no consideration about the role of passenger transport in connecting the Tararua community with Manawatū.

He said the toll proposal was a rushed, knee-jerk one.

Cr Jono Naylor spoke for several councillors who said they did not have an objection to tolls in principle, but they should not apply in this case.

His problem was that the proposal had arisen in retrospect, after the highway had been discussed, decided and almost built.

The council’s vote in opposition did not have unanimous support, with councillors Bruce Gordon, Nikki Riley and David Cotton voting against it.

Gordon said there should be a toll, but locals should have an exemption — number plate recognition technology was smart enough to do that, he said.

“I don’t see why people from Auckland should have a free ride,” he said.

A community meeting about the proposed toll will be held in Dannevirke on Wednesday at The Hub in Allardice St, and another will be held at the Ashhurst Village Valley Centre next Wednesday at 7pm.