Coromandel Peninsula risks two more summers of isolation, Opposition says
Thursday, 15 June 2023
The Coromandel Peninsula risks being virtually cut off for two more summers if unforeseen delays hit the SH25A bridge project, Oppostion MPs say.
And with no date set for construction to begin, residents are losing faith in Waka Kotahi and fear the coast’s economy will be devastated.
“The only road we are getting is a garden path that the Government are leading people up,” Coromandel National MP Scott Simpson said.
“The region was already braced for this summer, but another summer would be catastrophic. Residents were told in February it would take up to a year to fix, but still hoped that it would be ready for this summer. Construction has not even begun, and now it’s going to take until August 2024, with potential delays extending it out to summer 2025.”
National’s transport spokesperson Simeon Brown said former Minister of Transport Michael Wood “has seriously misled the Coromandel community”.
A bridge is being built to replace a huge section of Coromandel’s main arterial road which has been closed for six months since it was decimated by a 100m landslide after Cyclone Gabrielle and Auckland Anniversary flooding.
The death of the highway has been described by residents as “worse than Covid”, creating ghost towns. Businesses are closing, visitors aren’t coming, and people’s day-to-day life getting to school, work, health appointments and supermarkets has become harder.
In a response to a written question in Parliament from National Party transport spokesperson Simeon Brown, Wood – who has since been stood down from the portfolio - said the bridge would take up to 14 months to build, but that risks being extended due to “further weather events and geotechnical issues”.
Tairua resident Anton Roest and a group of concerned residents contacted Waka Kotahi this month, concerned at the lack of transparency.
“What we all have in common are our serious concerns for the suffering in our Coromandel community due to the closure of State Highway 25A. This has left residents, families and business owners struggling financially and mentally while waiting under a cloud of uncertainty about how long it will take.”
Residents and business owners had been hoping it would be fixed in time for this summer and further delays would have “a massive impact' on the region, he said.
“It is our community who is taking the brunt of economic consequences during this time as many local businesses are suffering, having to make difficult staffing decisions, take on more debt and/or close their doors.”
People were struggling to survive and “desperate with little hope of an early solution”.
“Listening to locals’ conversations, we notice a growing sense of dissatisfaction, criticism, frustration and resentment towards this government and Waka Kotahi/NZTA about the seeming lack of urgency and priority given to the reopening of SH25A and especially the time this is going to take. It puts many people and businesses at serious risk of being cut off. The future outlook feels bleak, discouraging and disheartening.”
Hot Water Beach Holiday Park marketing manager Tim Bright said any longer than early 2024 to get the region back open would impact bookings and events.
”Any extra delay would hurt when we are already down on bookings. Uncertainty means it’s hard for tourist businesses to plan. We already decided that if the road wasn’t open by March latest, we’d have to look at cancelling events.”
People were concerned that the region would fall off the Government’s radar.
“With everything that’s happened around Michael Wood, people have been wondering how that will affect the build as he’d been the one driving it so far.”
Waka Kotahi’s Jo Wilton confirmed no date had been set to commence the build.
“Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has selected a preferred consortia however, as negotiations on contract terms continue, there is no construction start date set. Methodology and timeframes will be known upon contract award.
“While contract negotiations are underway, Waka Kotahi is conscious of keeping momentum and has instructed the consortia to order pile casing materials and continue planning for site establishment and preparations for accessway tracks – so they can get underway as soon as terms have been agreed.”
Andy Loader, chair of lobby group Primary Land Users, said businesses, residents and the farming community were in crisis from the road closure and further delays would be “crippling”.
“Costs of getting supplies and everything are spiralling and businesses are breaking down left right and centre. They can’t survive.”
Delays for the fix were inevitable, and the Government needed to be more transparent about it, he said.
“It’s bollocks. Six months and they haven’t even built a site office. I don’t even think it will be open by August 2024. Look at what happened with the Manawatū Gorge – that slip happened in 2017. Their new road is still not open.”
Simeon Brown told Stuff it was “appalling” how slow the process had been.
“Every month that this road is closed is another month of economic and social devastation for the Coromandel community. The Government should have had a contract sorted within weeks of the road being washed out so that the road could be reconstructed and re-opened as quickly as possible.”
Associate Transport Minister Kiri Allan said the “cost and exact time-frame” was still being worked through, but construction would begin “imminently”.
The project team is a joint venture between McConnell Dowell and Fulton Hogan, supported by Beca and Tonkin and Taylor.
“We appreciate how vital it is to reconnect this lifeline. The storm damage to the Coromandel roading network is having a massive impact on travel time, cost and quality of life for the people who live, work and visit this beautiful region,” Kiri Allan said.