Roading connectivity is essential to enable our region to recover says Wairoa Mayor Craig Little.

Mr Little supports the recently released draft Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) 2024-2034 which focuses on building future resilience, so our communities are not as vulnerable as they were during Cyclone Gabrielle.

The draft plan has been approved by the Hawke’s Bay Regional Transport Committee and is now open for public consultation until 14 April. 

The draft plan proposes investing more than $5.5 billion over the next 10 years into the region's transport to rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle and increase resilience. 

Mr Little said the cyclone event showed the fragility of our roading network and highlighted the pressing need to restore it as quickly as possible to enable our economic recovery. “It’s also important that the local government funding allocation for local roads is not compromised and swallowed up in State Highway work.”

He described the plan as taking in the entirety of the region and based on building safe and resilient roads throughout Hawkes Bay. “It is pleasing that SH2, particularly between Wairoa and Napier is prioritised within this plan. In Cyclone Gabrielle, SH2 was closed for three months, leaving Wairoa isolated from the south. Our community cannot go through being cut off like that again and we welcome safe and resilient roads for the future. From a Wairoa perspective, it is particularly pleasing to see the Waikare Gorge implementation and Tairawhiti-Wairoa resilience prioritised along with Mahia connectivity, which is another enormous challenge for us locally.

“I Know the Joint Transport Committee values the thoughts of the community and input about the plan, and whether or not what is proposed offers a pathway for us to gain the resilience, strength, safety and choice we want for our transport network.”

To read the full plan, supporting information and to make a submission, head to the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council website.

Submissions can also be made:

• By email: transportplan@hbrc.govt.nz
• By post: Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, Private Bag 6006, Napier 4142

25 March 2024

Back to Archive