But Minister of Transport Simeon Brown said the Government remains committed to post-Cyclone Gabrielle recovery efforts in Hawke’sBay, including roading projects.
National had earmarked three major roading projects in Hawke’s Bay to be funded by the National Resilience Plan, including four lanes for the Hawke’s Bay Expressway.
Budget ideas are typically marked “Budget Sensitive” and not released to the public, but Treasury’s regular release of titles of advice received by the Minister of Finance revealed in February that Willis received a paper on “Discontinuation of the National Resilience Plan”.
Willis earlier told the Herald the name of the report was released in error and it was “advice only”.
Almost $2.8b from the fund has been allocated so far.
In a joint statement from the four mayors of Central Hawke’s Bay, Hastings, Napier and Wairoa and the chair of Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, released through the Regional Recovery Agency, the leaders said they were collectively reaching out to central government in response to “media coverage suggesting the National Resilience Plan may be discontinued”.
The group said the National Party had earmarked three major roading projects in Hawke’s Bay that would be funded by the National Resilience Plan.
“As the region’s leaders, we will continue to advocate strongly to ensure these projects progress as indicated. We appreciate the Government’s willingness to date to engage in discussions around cyclone recovery,” the statement said.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown said the National Land Transport Programme will provide more detail on the funding and delivery of three major Hawke's Bay roading projects as uncertainty arises for local councils. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Brown said in a statement that the three projects were listed in New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi’s (NZTA) recently released State Highway Investment Proposal.
“I have had discussions with mayors from the Hawke’s Bay and understand how regionally and nationally important SH2 and SH5 are to support economic growth and the importance of upgrading the Hawke’s Bay Expressway.
“NZTA is currently developing the National Land Transport Programme, which will provide more detail on the funding and delivery of these projects.”
The 24km Hawke’s Bay Expressway is part of State Highway 2 and the main route between Napier and Hastings.
Nimon said any further comment she made at this stage about whether projects could be affected by the axing of the National Resilience Plan would be speculation, but noted the Hawke’s Bay Expressway was one of the Roads of National Significance.
The draft plan also put forward a “medium to long-term programme” of improvements with a cost between $750-830m for State Highway 5 between Napier and Taupō.
Improvements would include roadside barriers, curve improvements, shoulder widening and central barriers or wide centrelines along much of the road and possible speed changes at Te Pōhue and Te Haroto.
Other potential upgrades on State Highway 2 include raising the road from Esk River Bridge to Whirinaki Drain to reduce the frequency, depth and duration of overtopping from floods and upgrading the Whirinaki Drain culvert to a larger size to allow more water to pass through.
An upgrade of the SH2 Esk River Bridge to raise it was also suggested to reduce closures from flood events and address safety and seismic vulnerabilities.
James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. You can contact him at james.pocock@nzme.co.nz.
