Matamata-Piako District transport choices to multiply after $2.3 million funding boost

Matamata-Piako District Mayor Adrienne Wilcock (third from left) at the site blessing of the Morrinsville Rec perimeter path. Photo / Matamata-Piako District Council

Walking and cycling might soon become the transport mode of choice in the Matamata-Piako District as the local council just received a multi-million-dollar funding boost from Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency for transport projects.

The $2.3 million the district received is part of Waka Kotahi’s Transport Choices initiative, which helps councils to build cycling and micro-mobility networks, create walkable neighbourhoods and make public transport easier to use.

For Matamata-Piako, the funding means seven projects have been given the green light.

Work on one of the projects, the Morrinsville Recreation Ground perimeter path, has already kicked off.

Matamata-Piako District Mayor Adrienne Wilcock said thanks to the funding, the council was able to “fast-track” some “important upgrades” to the local transportation network.

“This is a big win for our district ... The funding will help us deliver quick-to-build, low-cost improvements and should make a valuable difference to those who catch a bus or use our footpaths and crossings to get around our town centres.

“[In] community feedback [we] received in recent consultations, you’ve let us know we could do a better job of creating walking and biking connections in our town centres and making our footpaths and crossings more accessible and safe to use. We’re excited to make a number of small but important upgrades much sooner than we hoped,” Wilcock said.

Work on the Morrinsville Recreation Ground perimeter path, a shared walk and bike path that is set to surround the reserve running along the railway track, started earlier this month. It is expected to be completed in December.

The idea for the path came from the community as part of the Reimagine Morrinsville Rec consultation, during which people commented that a path like this could boost the use of the reserve as it would make the reserve more accessible to local neighbourhoods and the town centre.

The 950-metre-long path will have at least two access points to the Rec grounds, one at Anderson Park playground and one at the fields by the cricket nets. It will join up with the existing paths and riverwalk to create a loop.

The Morrinsville Recreation Ground perimeter path is set to be completed by December. Image / Matamata-Piako District Council

The other six transport projects funded by Waka Kotahi are bus stop upgrades across the district, a walking and biking route linking Matamata’s inner parks and reserves with the town centre, bike racks in four locations in Matamata and a DIY bike repair station by the i-Site, accessibility improvements to footpaths, crossing points and mobility parking in CBDs across the district, as well as two development plans.

The latter are plans to improve school travel to make it safer and easier for students to walk, bike or scooter to school, and the Matamata connectivity plan, which includes possible street upgrades like sharrows, which were trialled as part of the Bike Day Out earlier this year.

Martin Louw, co-ordinator of the local sustainable community advocacy group Transition Matamata, said the group congratulated the council for receiving the funding.

Matamata-Piako District Council recently held a Bike Day Out. Photo / Transition Matamata

“We are in favour of the work that the council is doing. [The shortlisted projects] are very positive first steps that get things moving in the right direction, but we are not there by a long shot.”

Louw said the Matamata Inner Green Route project, the walking and biking route linking the town’s inner parks and reserves with the town centre, was most important to Transition Matamata.

“The council has ... put a recreational focus on cycling, but for us, it’s about the alternative transport side of things, getting kids to school or going shopping ... The Inner Green Route has a number of benefits - it links up parks, but it also creates options to go into town [by bike],” Louw said.

Matamata-Piako District Mayor Adrienne Wilcock. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

There will also be a pop-up pump track to make local open spaces more attractive for young people. The 65m track is suitable for bikes, scooters, skateboards and blades and has a combination of humps and berms.

The council will move the track to different places across the district every few months. The first location will be the Morrinsville Recreation Ground at Anderson Park, once the perimeter path is completed.

“This pump track is really neat, and we’ll receive it just in time for summer. I think families are going to really enjoy it,” Wilcock said.

Transport Choices is part of the $350m Waka Kotahi Climate Emergency Response Programme, which helps to provide safer and more convenient choices for walking, cycling and public transport to reduce people’s reliance on cars.

Waka Kotahi Urban Mobility manager Kathryn King said the Transport Choices programme received an “outstanding” response from councils around the country.

“The aim is to open up streets so everyone can get where they need to go in ways that are good for their health and the planet.”

Matamata-Piako District Council contributed an additional $500,000 to the $2.3m received from Waka Kotahi. The $500,000 was earmarked in the Long Term Plan for some of these projects. All projects should be implemented by July 2024.