RiverLink a $700m headache for Chris Bishop

Saturday, 13 January 2024

New Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop faces a major headache in his own backyard, confirming Hutt City’s RiverLink project is under significant financial pressure and needs to be “sliced and diced”.

The initial $700 million budget has looked inadequate almost since the day it was announced in 2021 and re-elected Hutt South MP has major concerns.

Key features of RiverLink include upgrading central Hutt City flood defences, an interchange at Melling on State Highway 2, moving the train station south and two new bridges over Te Awa Kairangi/Hutt River.

The project is being run by an alliance that includes the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, the Hutt City and regional councils, and contractors.

On Friday, Greater Wellington chairperson Daran Ponter said he was frustrated with the alliance model and his council would begin construction on the most at risk section of the stopbanks in February. Ponter also confirmed he was unhappy with the lack of information coming from the alliance.

Late on Friday afternoon, Ponter said in a statement that a contract for raising the existing stopbank between Melling Bridge and north of Mills St had been signed with AECOM and Fletcher Construction, which were part of the alliance.

The stopbank design will be finalised in late March, and the construction team was expected to be on site from February.

The contract included enabling works around Melling to allow the building of the new Melling interchange with State Highway 2, NZTA Waka Kotahi said.

Bishop, who has always been a staunch RiverLink supporter, said the entire project was under “significant financial pressure” and it was unclear when work will begin.

Aspects of the design are being examined to see where savings can be made but with such a complex project, finding savings would not be easy.

He was critical of the way the previous government funded the project. Much of it came from the $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme.

“Like all the projects, [RiverLink] will need to be sliced and diced.”

Despite all the difficulties, Bishop remained committed to seeing it built.

“I am determined to get it over the line.”

One person who is promising to keep the pressure on Bishop is Labour list MP Ginny Andersen, who lost Hutt South to him in the recent election.

“I will be fighting tooth and nail to make sure a project that is critical for Lower Hutt goes ahead.”

Andersen believes uncertainties over RiverLink’s future point to a bigger issue for the new Government.

“There is not enough money in the budget for all the projects National has promised … I will continue to hold the new Government to account.”

It is particularly important, she said, that the flood protection work goes ahead.

Speaking to local business, she has been told that insurers are increasingly reluctant to provide cover due to the need to upgrade flood defences.

Bishop agreed that flood protection is a priority and he was pleased to hear from Ponter that work is about to begin on the most vital stretch of stopbank upgrades.

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All the partners in the project would need to look closely at the design and find ways to reduce costs, he said.

He understood the original consent for the project contained elements that forced the price up and he said it would also need to be revisited.

One person delighted to hear that work on Mills St is about to begin is resident Alison McKone. Her property will be hard up against the new stopbank, after Greater Wellington decided not to purchase her house.

In November she told The Post that after 14 years, all she wanted was certainty so she could plan for the disruption construction would cause. “We really still don’t have a timeframe at this stage … I don’t think they know.”

This week she received an email saying work would begin on January 16, to find underground services.

The current bridge is a choke bridge and that can only be dealt with by proceeding with plans for the interchange on State Highway 2 and relocating the Melling Station.

Bishop said he has no timetable for when work might begin.

“It is just one of many problems that have turned up on my desk.”

Hutt City mayor Campbell Barry declined to comment. NZTA Waka Kotahi did not respond to questions asking if the delays faced by the project were due to contractors wanting a guarantee over future cost increases.

In a written statement, it said RiverLink was in the Interim Project Alliance Agreement phase.

“The IPAA phase involves a detailed review of every element of the consented design, and improving the design where feasible, to allow the partners and the Alliance to agree the scope and confirm a price to deliver the project – the purpose of this phase is to finalise the design, scope and cost and reach agreement in order to sign the Project Alliance Agreement.”

Timeline

– 1991; the regional council begins work investigating the need to upgrade flood protection in the Hutt Valley.

– 1996; the regional council produces Living with the River, a report which said the river was a major threat.

– 2001; a management plan is produced aimed at providing flood protection for a one in 440 year flood. In 2001 the Wellington Regional Council produced the Hutt River Floodplain Managements Plan, a 40-year plan to safeguard both Upper and Lower Hutt, with a budget of $78m. The economic impact of a flood on central Lower Hutt is is estimated to be $1b.

– 2009; Mills St resident Alison McKone becomes aware of plans to upgrade the stopbank behind her house and asks for plans of the project.

– 2010; Hutt City Council begins work on a project to turn its run down central city towards the river. Plans include a river promenade and multi story apartments.

– 2015; Hutt City signs off the The Hutt City Centre Upgrade Project, with a projected $143m budget. The regional council begins plans to purchase 118 properties needed for flood control.

– 2017; Prime Minister Bill English says National will build a $72m interchange at Melling.

– 2019; New Zealand Transport Agency shelves funding for a Melling Interchange saying it would reconsider its decision in 2028. The city council says it considers the interchange a priority, as it includes a new bridge. Without a replacement bridge, it is not possible to upgrade stopbanks to the one in 440 level.

– 2020; the Government agrees to fund the Melling Interchange, saying it will be built by 2026.

– 2020; the city council declines to fast track the project.

– 2021; the city council buys land needed for a river promenade.

– 2022; the Government announces funding of $98.9m for the city council to upgrade the infrastructure required for thousands of new apartments beside the river corridor.

– 2023; in March a claim by then National list MP Chris Bishop that the project had stalled was denied by Waka Kotahi. General manager of transport services Brett Gliddon​ says the project had not been rescoped or delayed, and construction would start that year.

– 2023; regional councillors agree to relocate the Melling train station and close it from July 2024 for six months. The plan is to move the station south and build a footbridge linking it to central Lower Hutt.

– 2023; Hutt City Mayor Campbell Barry says the budget of $700m, set in 2021, was unrealistic and $1.2b was more realistic.

– 2024; local MP Chris Bishop says the project is under financial pressure and it is not clear when the design stage will be completed.