District council preparing transport plan

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Important work guiding transport planning in Tairāwhiti is gearing up for public consultation at the end of summer.

Every six years, Gisborne District Council produces a Regional Land Transport Plan which details the region’s priorities and objectives for NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi.

The plan is instrumental for securing funding because it includes proposals for the transport agency’s National Land Transport Programme (NLTP).

A report prepared for a regional transport meeting showed that following adoption, the plan would be submitted to NZTA no later than June 14, 2024.

But that would only happen after a series of steps had been worked through, including discussion at committee level early this month, a five-week public consultation beginning February 1, 2024, and public hearings in April.

According to the council report, the plan is split into two parts — the first of which includes “a compelling vision and strategy” explaining how the council would address government policy.

That section also included an assessment of which problems would ideally be addressed.

The second part of the document contains a programme of works, such as road maintenance, public transport, road improvements and cycleway upgrades.

The report explained any work undertaken by the council under the transport plan required local investment of 34 percent.

State highway projects were fully funded by NZTA.

Full regional transport plans are required every six years, with a review and refresh undertaken every three years.

Despite being in a review year, a large amount of work was required to refresh the Regional Land Transport Plan to reflect the current environment, the council report said.

That included government policy changes and Cyclone Gabrielle recovery.

Risks identified with the project were seen as outside of council control and included a deteriorating economic outlook and further devastating weather events.