Plea for action on Weiti River crossing

By WAYNE THOMPSON

Whangaparaoa and Stillwater landowners say their lives are hanging in limbo because of the stalled Weiti Crossing project.

They are appealing to the Rodney District Council commissioner either to restart the project or scrap it.

Landowners feel the former council left them in the lurch late last year when it became worried about the costs and implications of the project.

It stopped buying land on 350 properties that had been marked for roadworks since September 1998, and halted processing of Weiti Bridge resource consents.

Then on April 11, the Minister of Local Government sacked the council and replaced it with commissioner Grant Kirby, pending election of a new council next March. Mr Kirby is to consider on Thursday a plea for help from owners affected by uncertainty, and a proposal from council roading manager John Brown.

Mr Brown says in a report to the commissioner that in the past two years the estimated cost of the project has risen from $65 million to $69.9 million.

This allows $46.9 million for the Weiti River bridge, and $23 million for widening Whangaparaoa Rd to serve the bridge and its Stillwater arterial link to the Northern Motorway.

Building of the Weiti Crossing was to have started in mid-2002 and been completed in 2005. The council has spent $1.53 million on reports and consent applications.

Mr Brown says landowners can try to get the Environment Court to direct the council to buy the land. But they must prove hardship and the case will be costly.

An alternative solution would be for the commissioner to permit land to be bought as it became available. If the project were scrapped, the land could be sold to recover costs.

He says the Auckland Regional Council should be asked to resume processing resource consent applications for the 540m Weiti Bridge. This would allow appeals against the route designation and resource consents to be heard by the Environment Court this year.

Once these are confirmed by the court, says Mr Brown, the new council would be better placed to review the project and the handover to private firms to build and run the link as a tollway. Ten companies have shown interest.

Mr Brown asks the commissioner to press the Government to pass legislation allowing a toll to be charged. He also wants to continue talks with Transfund and Infrastructure Auckland for help to fund the toll road.

Stillwater couple Audrey and Bill Hendon, whose 4ha property will be crossed by the link road, would welcome action by the commissioner.

The retired residents plan to stay in their renovated home. But the link road chews through the half of their land they had hoped to subdivide and sell for retirement income.

They had assumed the council would buy what land it needed when the route was designated in 1998, but say the council has since ignored them.