Council agrees to Ruapehu roads upgrade

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 532, 19 April 1994, Page 1

Council agrees to Ruapehu roads upgrade

But opts to rate rather than borrow

Ruapehu District councillors agreed in principle to a district road upgrading programme when they met in Taumarunui last Friday. The final decision about the District' s road upgrading programme was put on-hold pending further information as to ho w and where the money was to be spent but councillors agreed to the proposal that a sum of $250,000 for the northern wards and $125,000 for the southern wards be included in the 1 994/95 draft Annual Plan for road upgrading. Mayor Garrick Workman told the Bulletin yesterday that no formal decision had been made by the council to scrap the $16m, 16-year loans proposal, but that it had "become very clear that people were uncomfortable with the idea of borrowing money for the upgrading programme". Following a series of local meetings throughout the district over the past two months to discuss a proposed $16 million upgrading programme on the area's roading network over the next 16 years, councillors reported on the public feedback on the proposal. The purpose of the meetings was to establish whether ratepayers would support an 'upgrading' rather than a 'maintenance only' programme. Mayor Garrick Workman said while there was general agreement and support for an upgrading programme this was more evident in the northern wards than in the south of the district, and each community wanted to know how the programme would directly affect the roads in their area. Ruapehu District chief executive, Cliff Houston, explained that council had deliberately not presented a detailecl specification of what work

was to be undertaken over the next 1 6 years but had left those decisions open in order to deal with the question in principle rather than "which costs will benefit who". As to exactly how and where the money was to be spent would depend on negotiation and need at a later date. "These local meetings had no official endorsement but the Council needed to have some public input in order to gauge public support for the programme," said Mr Houston. He said that people living in urban areas generally wanted seal extensions to existing roads while those living in rural areas thought the programme should concentrate more on road alignments, reducing bends, road widening etc. Mr Houston produced a graph which showed two different methods of funding the $16 million programme - by loan or by revenue - and pointed out that while the revenue option would be more expensive in the short term, it would be cheaper in the long term. Councillors generally agreed it would be unwise getting into loan repayments over the next two or three decades without knowing what interest rates are likely to be. Cr June Baker said farmers would be very reluctant to saddle their children with servicing loans into the next century but, as long-term planners, farmers realised that road improvements in rural areas would benefit their families in terms of valuations, operating costs etc. Cr Eddie Turley told his fellow councillors that people in the National Park ward wanted something much more specific as to how raising a loan (funded by an increase in rates) would benefit them "rather than just vague promises". Cr Bob Peck said the meeting in Rangataua was "totally opposed to any additional rates for road funding" but that the meeting was so poorly atTurn to Page 2

Roads plan FROMPAGEl tended it may not have been very representative of the Rangataua community. Cr Peck described attendance at the Raetihi meeting as "abysmal" and said he was not prepared to load the bulk of Raetihi 's residents with extra rates following such poorly attended meetings. Cr John Compton said all those who had attended the three southern ward meetings wanted to know, in exact dollar terms, how their rates would be affected. Cr Irene Dempsey reported that the meetings in Taumarunui had been "very divided" on the issue. Cr Joe Murphy, on the other hand, said there had been a "very positive attitude" in the Ohura ward and that ratepayers had asked if they could fund their own roading improvements should other wards decide not to do so.