Common ground on roading reform

From Your Mayor

Canterbury and West Coast local authorities, including Christchurch City Council, have jointly put together a reform proposal for roads to best meet the needs of our communities.

A few weeks ago the mayors of Ashburton, Selwyn District and I met Transport Minister Maurice Williamson to discuss the issue.

Mr Williamson reached agreement with us on these points:

• There are significant problems with the current road system and these problems will get worse unless they are addressed.
• Changes are required in the way we price, fund and manage our roads.
• There is a need to put in place a system that will move in an evolutionary manner to better road pricing.
• Significant structural change of some form is required in order to achieve this, and
• There are benefits to be gained by reducing the number of entities running our roads.

Mr Williamson promised that the Government will continue to consult before making any binding decisions on the future of our roads. He also said: "While we differ on the form of institutional arrangements that will most effectively achieve (the agreed outcomes), I was encouraged to be able to take from our meeting the message that you were keen to work together to see if the amount of agreement could be expanded."

Along with the other mayors, I was pleased to be able to talk through our concerns with the minister — but disappointed that the Government has not yet taken on board our fundamental concerns, which are:

• Local communities must continue to directly control the bodies which manage our roads;
• Roads must be managed on a not-for-profit basis.

We agree with the Government that reform is an urgent priority - just not at the expense of communities.

We still have a chance to influence the decision- making process on this.

Never more so than in an election year. When candidates or MPs ask for your vote during the coming election campaign, ask this question:
"Do you really believe roads should be managed by profit-taking companies — companies outside the direct control of the communities they have been set up to serve?"

As Mr Williamson himself has said, roading will be the most important reform New Zealand has undertaken in 50 years. We all deserve to know the answer to this question before we elect the decision makers to take us into the next millennium.