Asked to name one big project to prioritise, Canterbury’s leaders couldn’t agree

Wednesday, 24 June 2026

The Rakaia Bridge is one of the critical links on Canterbury’s north-south freight route that regional leaders say will need further investment.

Canterbury’s business and political leaders have produced a scattered list of roads, rapid transit, freight, flood protection and energy projects – but no clear, agreed priority to take to Wellington.

The Press asked a range of people to name the one project Canterbury should put in front of the Government after Finance Minister Nicola Willis challenged the region to be specific about what it wanted.

“I haven’t had a request for a major headline project in Canterbury,” she told an audience of 200 at a Business Canterbury event earlier this month.

When asked, most, including Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, did not name one specific project, while others offered broad themes or lists of projects without saying what should come first.

The lack of focus comes as Canterbury’s major post-earthquake rebuild projects near completion and the region looks for the infrastructure needed to support its next phase of growth. Canterbury secured no headline project from the Budget’s $7 billion infrastructure package.

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger favoured improving Canterbury’s north-south freight route, including four-laning towards Ashburton and upgrading ageing bridges.

A one-lane bridge on Canterbury’s transport network highlights the ageing links that regional leaders say need investment to keep communities, freight and businesses connected.

He identified the Rakaia Bridge as a potential pinch point and said he was open to tolling if it allowed road upgrades to proceed sooner.

His comments broadly aligned with Timaru mayor and Canterbury Mayoral Forum chair Nigel Bowen, who backed the wider freight spine from Lyttelton through Christchurch and Ashburton to Timaru. Neither named a costed first project.

Christchurch Airport chief executive Justin Watson also backed better-connected transport infrastructure between the airport, Lyttelton Port and major freight hubs, identifying bridges as critical links for South Island tourism, trade and freight.

Mass rapid transit attracted two endorsements, from Infrastructure New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett and Labour’s Christchurch spokesperson Tracey McLellan.

The proposed 22-kilometre corridor would run from Hornby to Belfast through the central city, with 21 stations. Early design work is under way, although decisions on any private land needed for the route could still be four or five years away.

Environment Canterbury chair Deon Swiggs put flood protection and transport resilience at the top of the list, while Mark Hoskins, chief revenue officer of Christchurch-based cleantech company Fabrum, proposed a hydrogen precinct spanning heavy transport, aviation and industry.

Swiggs pointed to the Arundel Bridge over the Rangitata River as an example of where bridge repairs and river management needed to proceed together.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis says Canterbury needs to be specific about the infrastructure project it wants the Government to back.

Leggett also warned that the focus on new projects risked overlooking ageing bridges and culverts already connecting farms, businesses and communities.

Rather than naming a new project Canterbury should push for next, Minister for the South Island James Meager, like Luxon, pointed to road projects already funded or under way.

Business Canterbury chief executive Leeann Watson said the organisation was still developing a shortlist from its Canterbury Ambition project, focused on energy, transport, connectivity, housing and innovation, to take to the government after the election.

Together, the responses amount to a regional wishlist rather than the unified, ranked proposal Willis said would give Canterbury the strongest case for government backing.

Work is under way to narrow the field.

Te Kaha stadium rises over central Christchurch, one of the final major projects from the post-earthquake rebuild as the region debates what infrastructure should come next.

Alongside the Business Canterbury shortlist, a regional deal process being led through the Canterbury Mayoral Forum is expected to identify a list of “cornerstone projects” next year.

Neither process has yet produced a ranked, costed proposal.

This could be complicated by the Government’s Head Start council amalgamation programme, which may reshape Canterbury’s councils and alter who is responsible for planning, infrastructure and investment decisions.

Leaders also broadly agreed that central government could not carry the full cost.

Meager and Watson backed tools including tolling and development levies, while Leggett supported user charges, developer contributions and recycling capital from public assets. Bowen said nationally important freight infrastructure should remain primarily an NZTA and central government responsibility.

The Government has also left some uncertainty over where responsibility sits. Willis has told regions to identify the projects they want, while Luxon has argued the Infrastructure Commission should play a stronger role in deciding national priorities.

There are also doubts about whether Canterbury is aligned enough to make a strong case to Wellington.

Watson and Meager said Canterbury was becoming more aligned. Leggett was less convinced.

“No, probably not,” he said when asked whether the region was ready to make a strong case to Wellington.

He said councils, Ngāi Tahu, businesses and the wider community first needed to agree on the growth and lifestyle outcomes they wanted, then choose the projects capable of delivering them.