KEY POINTS:
Transit NZ's board resolved yesterday to seek a designation over land for a $1.89 billion pair of motorway tunnels through Waterview in Auckland, despite last-minute pleas from community speakers to back off.
At a meeting in Auckland, their last monthly session before Transit and Land Transport NZ are merged into one super-agency, board members assured parents of children at Waterview's school and kindergarten that they would be protected against vented traffic fumes and other potential hazards.
A resolution to seek a notice of requirement from Auckland City for land over the route of the 4.5km Waterview Connection, of which 3.2km will be through bored tunnels, was passed without opposition.
Despite acknowledging concerns of community speakers allowed to address the meeting, board member Grahame Hall cited "compelling" support for the tunnels from 76 per cent of 747 public submissions.
But the board called for a report from officials on managing fumes from the tunnel "to benchmark the proposed approach incorporated in the design work to date against current international best practice".
In response to submissions questioning the adequacy of just two traffic lanes running in each direction, it sought a comparative assessment of the operational performance and costs of providing three-lane tunnels, initially estimated at $2.14 billion.
A staff report before the board also acknowledged concerns in other submissions about the "excessive cost" of just one transport project, and the wisdom of such an investment against the prospect of continuing fuel price rises.
Christchurch-based board member Ernesto Henriod told speakers, including 8-year-old Waterview Primary School student Craig Watson, that a lack of financial provision for the project meant "the community can rest assured that nothing is going to happen in a hurry".
He said tunnels were far less disruptive than "cut and cover" trenches, such as initially proposed for Waterview, and it was essential that the community be kept safe and healthy.
Craig told the board he liked to ride his bicycle "but not when you build a motorway". He was concerned those of his friends living in some of the 160 homes likely to be cleared to make way for tunnel portals near his school "will have to move away - maybe forever".
Waterview Primary principal Brett Skeen said some families living in state houses had already received letters telling them they would have to move as early as September.
He said the school had yet to receive an assurance from the Ministry of Education that it would be protected from closure against a fall in its 150-student roll.
School board member Rob Black questioned Transit's commitment to international best practice, given what he said was a statement by its project team that it would be too expensive to filter air vented from a tower just across a road from the school.
Transit board member Mike Williams said he did not know why the venting stack could not be moved to a site further away from the school, in line with a recommendation from Auckland City that it be built at least 1km away.
But Pt Chevalier residents are worried local weather conditions could send vent emissions their way, a concern shared by the Waitemata District Health Board.
Both the health board and Auckland City have, in submissions, called for the tunnel fumes to be filtered.
Transit acting chairman Bryan Jackson told the Herald after the meeting that although the agency hoped to avoid the extra cost, it would provide air filtration if there was no acceptable alternative for protecting public health.
