NZTA secrecy slammed as 200 Wellington property owners reportedly sent tunnel notice

Wednesday, 29 October 2025

Wellington City councillor Geordie Rogers is perplexed at NZTA's opacity on the State Highway 1 improvements.

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Two Wellington City Council staff were made to sign non-disclosure agreements as NZTA worked on tunnel plans in secret and sent letters to 200 affected building owners with virtually no council input, a councillor says.

“Our team is incredibly disappointed,” said Pukehīnau/Lambton ward councillor Geordie Rogers on Tuesday. “We would have expected a heads up.”

The government transport agency has been unforthcoming with its plans for State Highway 1 changes through the city with an investment case done by June 30 but released only last week.

Pre-election, now-Infrastructure and Transport Minister Chris Bishop promised spades would be in the ground for a second Mt Victoria tunnel this term, which ends next year. The new NZTA plans show that property acquisition and design will run through to late 2028 and consenting won’t be finished until 2027. NZTA has confirmed the bulk of the funding still needs to be approved.

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Wellington City Councillor Geordie Rodgers at the Mt Victoria Tunnel and where a second - he guesses - is planned.

Plans released last week included preliminary work on a second Mount Victoria tunnel, including a 3.6m wide walking and cycling path, starting next year.

Rogers said, with the exception of the two council staff involved in the investment case who had to sign non-disclosure agreements with NZTA – the council and councillors had been kept in the dark about plans.

This included NZTA sending letters on Friday to 200 “directly affected property owners” advising them of plans. These were people whose properties would be acquired by NZTA for the project or otherwise affected, such as having a tunnel dug beneath them.

Rogers still did not know where these homes were. As well as the effect on property owners, the council would be significantly impacted by the changes – notably with plans to change Vivian St to three lanes and remove council car parks.

Karo Drive in Wellington that leads to The Terrace tunnel through a trench but nobody can say if it will need to be widened to make the road three lanes.

With multiple sets of traffic lights down Vivian St, the new road would maintain an existing bottleneck, or the lights would have to re-phased to benefit State Highway 1 traffic to the detriment of traffic flow on council roads, he said.

The investment case of the government, via NZTA, has $2.9 to $3.8 billion earmarked to “design, consent and construct” second Mt Victoria and Terrace tunnels, three lanes on Vivian St, three lanes on the western end of Karo Drive, road changes around the Basin Reserve and widening Ruahine St and Wellington Rd on the road to the airport in the eastern suburbs.

Rongotai MP and Green transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said the only guaranteed funding from the government was about $200 million for land acquisitions and planning. The earmarked up-to $3.8b was not yet approved and, sitting alongside $40b to $50b of promised roads of national significance (RoNS), was not affordable without big tax hikes.

The State Highway 1 changes through Wellington had the worst cost-benefit of all the RoNS nationally, she said.

Bishop’s office and NZTA were asked if this government would deliver on its pledge to start work on the second Mt Victoria tunnel this term. NZTA said the $2.9 to $3.8b would be made available in future national land transport plans.

“Pre-implementation” was expected to take three years and the final cost may need to be updated.

NZTA advised the council on October 20 that letters would be sent to potentially affected home owners.

The council confirmed that staff had to sign NDAs but they ceased to apply after last week’s announcement.

“We knew that property owners would be contacted as part of the process. We were informed specifically on Friday that this had happened earlier in the week,” spokesman Richard MacLean said.