Pothole cash welcomed by West Coast

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:

A "record increase" in funds for West Coast roads and the region's state highway network is being welcomed by local government leaders.

The Government on Thursday announced an 'indicative allocation' for the West Coast of $23.5 million for basic pothole maintenance on local district roads.

The money is being provided under the National Land Transport Plan 2024-27 total pool of $1.9 billion.

The new budget is a bump from the West Coast's 2021-24 allocation of $15.2m for local roads.

Greymouth mayor Tania Gibson welcomed the new money as her council had been bracing for a road funding cut this year.
"It's good news," she said.

The Grey District Council had already deferred its 2024 long-term plan due to the forecast impact on squeezed ratepayers having to pay more to continue the current level of service in 2024-25.

"It was a 22% rates rise alone to keep the current service levels on roading," Gibson said.

No-one wanted to see decreased road maintenance so it would be interesting to see what the council actually got once the pothole funding figures were finalised, Gibson said.

Buller mayor Jamie Cleine said the funding announcement was "brilliant" for the sparsely populated district.

However, the "indicative funding" meant the real detail was yet to unfold, he said.

"It's reassuring that it's not a wholesale slash which is positive for our rural communities."

Of particular interest was how the council administered Karamea 'special purpose road', formerly a state highway, would be treated in the new funding mix.

Cleine feared it may actually decrease although he could not quote the figures.

"We just need to tee up what. It looks like a reasonable reduction from what we asked for," he said.

Westland mayor Helen Lash welcomed the Government's refreshed approach to address these needs so councils could focus on their core business.

"It's exceptionally good - better than what we could have paid for - we were expecting really significant cuts."

But until the firm figures came through, it was hard to say yet how much her district might benefit.

Many annual plans have already factored in less road funding, she said.
"We will have to go back and revisit that."

Lash said they chosen to develop a 2024-25 annual plan, after deferring their long-term plan, on the basis "we would get considerably less".

"There's certainly more work to do (but) now we know where we are."
It was good to see the new money was ringfenced so it did not get soaked up in fixing road damage from the natural events in the region, she said.

They continued to advocate to the NZ Transport Agency over basic resilience for the region – namely the all-important State Highway 6 tourist route from Otago to Westland, Lash said.

This included "shoring things up" at Knights Point north of Haast.

The local funding is separate from a 91% increase for State highways to just over $2 billion. The West Coast breakdown for that has yet to emerge.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown said the Pothole Prevention Fund has been ring fenced to include resealing, rehabilitation, and drainage maintenance works.

He said the indicative funding would provide councils with "much needed certainty" as they finalise their long-term plans.