Let's think big picture, infrastructure and the Long Term Plan

The Team from Whangarei District Council

Let's think big picture and the Long Term Plan. “This year’s severe weather events really exposed the lack of resilience in our transportation network,” says Infrastructure Committee Chairman Simon Reid. "At the same time, economic conditions are tough and the costs of developing infrastructure have increased dramatically. These factors are shaping our thinking as we prepare the infrastructure budgets for the next 10 years as part of our 2024-2034 Long Term Plan."

🚗 On roading
“Our immediate focus is to invest in renewals and get our infrastructure where it needs to be. We need to get some basics right, like roadside drainage, shaping unsealed roads and making sure our facilities are weather tight. “Tackling outstanding road repairs from the last year will remain a big focus. With plans to fix the most complex slips locked in for the next 2-3 years, work is ramping up already this summer. “We have made significant progress, but some repair work will take time and building more resilient infrastructure is a major focus on for this Long Term Plan,” he said.

📈 Planning for growth
“There’s an opportunity now to make sure we plan well for growth and support development led by others. This includes the Hospital redevelopment and the Whangārei to Ruakākā expressway/rail network, Kāinga Ora housing developments and other significant private developments. “We also need to think about our communities’ growing sport and recreation needs. We’ll be identifying the location and scope of our future Sports Hub to take pressure off existing facilities such as Kensington. “Bream Bay and Northern areas are under growth pressure and some key investments will be required to absorb the growth of these communities now and in future,” said Cr Reid.

🌧 Climate resilience
“We need more focus on our coastal and other communities affected by recent weather events. In this LTP we’ll look at how we protect our City Centre as well as working through resilience plans within different catchments. Our new Coastal Policy will be aimed at working with communities to find sustainable solutions."

🛴 City centre
“In addition to flood protection, a key challenge is to keep our City Centre accessible for everyone. As we see vacant sites developed, we need sufficient parking in the right areas and to implement some of the improvements signalled in our City Centre Plan. In parallel to this, we’ll continue to improve roads to support vehicles and buses that take more passengers. Completing cycle connections will help us achieve the full benefits of our shared path network. Finally, while we won’t be able to do everything, completing key city centre projects, will allow us to connect our Town Basin and city centre together vibrantly to promote economic growth of our City. Affordability is going to be a major consideration as we consult with our wider community in early 2024."