Govt must explain its pro-Auckland spending, Chch councillor says
7 February 2003
New Zealanders south of the Bombay Hills should be worried by the
Government’s move to spend disproportionate amounts of roading
money on Auckland, Christchurch City Councillor Denis O’Rourke
says.
"The Government says Auckland is in urgent need of nine tenths
of these funds over the next 10 years, but that does not mean it
should invest less in other places, which comprise three quarters
of the country" Mr O’Rourke says. "What the rest
of the country needs to be saying to the Government is that it needs
to find more money. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is bad government
and will be strongly opposed by all communities south of the Bombay
Hills."
Like many other cities and districts outside greater Auckland,
Christchurch has several transport projects which are crucial to
its development, but which now are now to be deprived of Transit
NZ funds.
"There are two schemes here that, to Christchurch, are vital,
and a number of others which are deserving of funding. All the planning
and design work’s been done for two vital projects relating
to the northern and southern gateways to the city. The consent issues
have been settled, and they are crucial to other plans for city
development," Mr O’Rourke says. "They‘re basically
ready for the bulldozers to roll, but the plug has suddenly been
pulled on them".
"These projects are critical to ensure we don’t get into
the same sort of difficulties that Auckland has, with growth outstripping
infrastructure. The problem is that if each area just talks about
its own patch then we’re just fighting each other for scraps
and not addressing the real issue, which comes back to adequate
funding on a nationwide basis".
It is also unfortunate the Government seems to be supporting ideas
in Auckland which go against its own policies and may make the problem
worse.
"The Government’s actually rewarding a city that is proposing
to do the exact opposite of what the Government says it wants and
in fact this decision is likely to ensure it just gets worse,"
Mr O’Rourke says. "The Government’s policy is to
encourage New Zealand to develop a sustainable transport system
but here they’re talking more major roads rather than alternatives
to roads (a genuinely integrated transport system), and it will
just feed demand. It’s going to create a bigger problem."
A briefing about the two Christchurch roading schemes mentioned
by Cr O’Rourke is available. Please phone Bryn Somerville on
03 941 8949
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