The new route would:
Save approx $30 in diesel for a truck and trailer unit travelling Napier to Gisborne. Great carbon savings as well as reducing freight costs
The proposed route did not replace the railway but runs alongside it. We asked that a cycleway running the other side of the tracks be investigated. The tourism potential and carbon savings would support the region
The sustainability of the route based on the geography would be more weatherproof, ie have you ever heard of the railway washing out in this section?
The two biggest food bowls of Aotearoa have surety moving their goods
Wairoa people have surety of access for hospital and other essential services
The economies of both regions would benefit immensely
Post-Gabrielle, a large-scale mid- to long-range project will stimulate the economy as people need work, workers need feeding and so on. The Kaikoura project brought their town back to life.
Nothing to do with Rocket Lab which doesn't need any more subsidy from our regions. Can't eat rockets; they do nothing to offset carbon and neither should we tolerate the holes they leave in the ozone layer.
When it comes to this country's commitment to big infrastructure builds by doing it once and doing it right, the Kaikoura road post the earthquake is the only one in my lifetime I can think of.
Now is the time for central government backing to get this right.
Sonya Smith, Nuhaka
