Finally, the people of Hawke’s Bay have a Government which is backing economic growth in the provinces – taking the money out of Wellington and powering up provincial New Zealand once again.
It is so exciting to see work under way on four-laning the Hawke’s Bay Expressway, and water storage back on the table as we are a Government of infrastructure and economic growth.
Enough of the talk – we are all about the action, and there is nothing like seeing a digger on the ground, hard hats and high-vis vests to show these projects becoming a reality.
As the local Tukituki MP, I campaigned strongly for the four-laning of the Hawke’s Bay Expressway, and within a year of us being in Government, work is now under way to clear vegetation and prepare the groundwork ahead of construction next year.
Hawke’s Bay has an infrastructure deficit, and we are moving at pace to ensure we get things built.
This will boost productivity and economic growth and enable those in Hawke’s Bay to get where they want to more efficiently and safely.
Ground improvement enabling works are happening to prepare the corridor for construction. This enabling work is happening over the next three to four months.
This means construction will begin 15 months earlier than we thought.
Stage one is focusing on improvements to the section of expressway between Pākōwhai/Links Road and Taradale Road, where the road is most congested.
We need strong, resilient infrastructure to future-proof our region’s economy, and as a strong advocate for water security in Hawke’s Bay, I was also pleased to see the Tuktituki Water Security Project on the fast-track list for approval under the Fast-track Approvals Bill.
The site of the proposed Ruataniwha Dam.
Water security has long been an issue in the region, and as our summers get drier, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council predicts we will need 25 million more cubic meters of water by 2040.
This is not an issue for the future. We need to address it now.
We cannot wait for the next weather event before taking action to ensure we have enough water storage in the region.
Water security is not only critical for the future wellbeing of our environment, our people and communities, it’s also critically important for unlocking the economic growth and potential in Hawke’s Bay. Currently, we can barely sustain what we grow, let alone grow more to boost our regional economy.
Hawke’s Bay is reliant on our food producers and exporters, and our Government is taking action to get the wheels moving in our economy once again.
We are building infrastructure, cutting the red tape and regulation, and getting on top of inflation to bring down interest rates and put confidence and aspiration back into Hawke’s Bay’s primary sector.
