Tararua Mayor to NZTA: ‘Do what’s right’ regarding toll road

A large crowd attended the Dannevirke meeting on Wednesday evening at the Hub.

Tararua Mayor Tracey Collis challenged NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi’s (NZTA) tolling assessment document at a meeting Dannevirke on Wednesday, saying “I’m not heart-broken, I’m wild. I smell a rat. NZTA do what is right.”

Following on from the Woodville meeting about the proposed toll on the Manawatū-Tararua Highway, more than 350 people attended a Dannevirke-based meeting on Wednesday.

Most of the Woodville speakers attended, and their audience was motivated to ask questions for more than an hour.

Some from out of the Tararua region attended to express opposition to the toll, saying there was an important principle involved and it affected every New Zealander.

Mavis Mullins pleaded with NZTA to “protect the vulnerable”.

Tararua Mayor Tracey Collis took the tolling assessment document by NZTA to task, challenging its assessment of expected traffic volume at more than 10,092 vehicles per day, just over the number of 10,000 required before a toll can be set, saying the numbers are far fewer based on flows through the Manawatū Gorge before it closed.

She challenged its claim that “tolling does not significantly or unduly reduce project outcomes or result in new or additional dis-benefits”, saying a toll impacts on lives from getting to hospitals, work or sport and forcing people to take dangerous alternative routes leading to accidents.

MP Mike Butterick said he had been listening to people’s concerns and passing them on to Wellington, saying he came under considerable pressure in question time to back the toll-free stance. He advised locals to submit their opinions to NZTA on line at nzta@govt.nz by 5pm on October 7.