Start sealing more roads: residents

Pipiwai Titoki Road Action Group spokeswoman Alex Wright is calling on Whangarei District Council to take action like the Far North District Council's in tackling the issue of dusty rural roads. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Rural residents lobbying for the tarsealing of dusty roads used by logging trucks want Whangarei District Council to step up and match the actions of the Far North District Council.

FNDC announced on Tuesday it will start a five-year $2.7 million programme to seal the parts of the problematic roads closest to houses in the district - dependant on raising $500,000 in subsidies from the forestry companies.

The first year of work will see 100m of road sealed with bitumen outside 10 houses on Pipiwai Rd and eight houses on Piccadilly Rd, and 100m outside 22 houses on Diggers Valley Rd sealed with either clay/metal overlay or bitumen.

But just down the road and across the council border, residents on the same logging route, but living in the Whangarei district, have to wait for the outcome of national funding requests which will be known next July at the earliest.

The Pipiwai Titoki Road Action Group wants to see WDC follow the FNDC's lead and start sealing 100m sections near houses on McCardle, Wright, Pipiwai and Omauri Rds, spokeswoman Alex Wright said.

Up to 100 logging trucks a day use a network of unsealed roads, the route agreed on by WDC and transport companies to keep the heavy traffic off sealed roads as much as possible.

"They [WDC] are being quite complacent and sticking to their guns about if they do anything, they will miss out on government funding - it's a bit of a catch-22," Mrs Wright said.

"I strongly believe the WDC should match the FNDC in their approach to find funding. I think they [FNDC] are being proactive - they are actually trying to do something. They get full marks for taking the initiative to talk to the forestry companies."

Waiting until July next year just means residents are forced to live in a cloud of dangerously fine dust particles laced with the powdered residue of a waste-oil based suppressant for longer, she said.

"There's a dust cloud that lingers for two minutes when a truck goes past - you have to stop until it clears. The dust is affecting our lives every day."

WDC roading manager Jeff Devine said council had applied to the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for $4 million to carry out 100m strip sealing on sites across the district over 10 years.

"This has not yet been confirmed and is subject to NZTA and council funding starting in 2015/16. We have also requested [$4.5 million] funding from the NZTA for a possible full seal of Wrights and McCardle Rds - again this has not yet been confirmed."

Council was also using dust suppression product on five house sites on Wrights Rd this summer, at a cost of $30,000, he said.