Dialogue: Resource Management law needs immediate review

By BERNARD HOUGH*

Civil engineering contractors point to the act as the prime reason for the lengthy delays in improving Auckland's motorway system.

Contractors in the Auckland and Waikato regions are becoming increasingly frustrated with the length of time it is taking for projects to move from planning to construction.

There are two main concerns.

The first is the length of time and associated costs incurred by carrying companies, contractors and other businesses, who transport goods along the existing motorway from Te Kauwhata in the south to Puhoi in the north.

The delays are because roads such as the State Highway 1 section from Mercer to Long Swamp, and the section from Orewa to Puhoi, were not designed to take today's traffic.

There is also congestion between the Manukau and Constellation interchanges where the gap between morning and afternoon rush hour is becoming shorter. Delays are now usual at any time on the central motorway junction.

The second concern is the lack of continuity of work for local civil-engineering contractors. They need continuity to maintain sufficient resources of plant, equipment and manpower for the demanding and high-risk work of constructing motorways.

Transit and Transfund, who respectively manage and fund the country's roading network, have published roading programmes which indicate the spending needed to improve the motorway system.

For 1999 to 2004, more than $1 billion was allocated for the motorway system between Te Kauwhata and Puhoi, including the Northwestern Link.

The projects included the Albany to Puhoi deviation and the Puhinui Rd interchange - both of which were expected to begin in 1999.

The combined cost is nearly $130 million, and they will alleviate significant congestion when complete.

But both have been delayed and it is not known when they will be started.

During the first two years of the Transit programme it is expected that a little more than $15 million per year will be spent. This has caused serious problems for contractors who have been gradually building up resources in recent years to meet the demands of tendering for $200 million worth of work per year.

The resources, which include plant and equipment, are at present parked up and idle or have been deployed elsewhere, even overseas.

Depreciation costs on plant and equipment standing idle run into millions of dollars per year. This must be paid, even when there is no income, leading to considerable stress for contractors. Some contractors are trying to get out of the industry by selling plant in a saturated market. As well, experienced workers trained for the sensitive environment through which many of the greenfield projects pass, have lost their jobs and moved to other parts of the country and overseas. It is difficult and costly to bring back staff who have moved away or to train less-experienced people when projects do eventually start.

The Contractors Federation is increasingly concerned at the level of stress imposed on contractors who are continually let down by delays and lack of work. It has made representations to MPs and submissions to ministerial panels and select committees suggesting ways to improve the present cumbersome process.

The Resource Management Act has now been in force for 10 years. In relation to motorway construction it has caused lengthy and costly delays. Congestion is estimated to cost Auckland motorway users nearly $1 billion per year in lost time and productivity.

The act is to blame because of the cumbersome process which must be followed to allow parties affected the right to object to a particular project.

The environmental consent process that local authorities administer is also time-consuming and costly. It causes delays which may stall a project for many years when it is bound to proceed anyway because it is in the best interests of the travelling public.

Meanwhile, there are huge costs to taxpayers, running into millions of dollars, to fund consultants and lawyers during the planning process. This money would be better spent on enhancing the environment our motorways go through.

The federation believes that, as a minimum, the following changes to the act are needed:

* An amendment to allow independent commissioners to hear consent applications.

* Allowing direct referral of consent hearings to the Environment Court when it is obvious resource consent applications will go to appeal.

* Allowing joint referral by a local council and an applicant to the court where it is obvious resource-consent applications will go to appeal.

* Reintroducing "standing," which requires people wishing to appeal resource consents to the court to demonstrate that they have an interest in the matter greater than the public interest.

* Ensuring better resourcing of the court to remove the backlog of cases waiting to be heard.

* Removing the ability for appellants at the court to re-litigate road designations while the court is hearing appeals on resource consents.

* Removing the High Court's power to reconsider matters of substance when appeals on points of law are being considered on reference from the Environment Court.

* Improving the accountability of submitters for costs arising from their appeals.

* Enlarging the scope of the Environment Court to deal with vexatious, irrelevant appeals or irresponsible exercise of appeals.

In conclusion, the federation supports the need for all parties affected to be given a fair hearing.

But it believes that a more efficient and less costly process must be put in place for the benefit of all New Zealanders. The economy cannot afford the costs associated with the way the act is being implemented.

* Bernard Hough is the Auckland branch chairman of the NZ Contractors Federation