“We want our quaint little quiet part
of the world.”
So said Councillor Aaron Woodcock as he echoed long-heard warnings that a better Remutaka Hill Road link to Wellington would spark an invasion of the unwanted. Councillor Woodcock wasn’t alone in opposing South Wairarapa District Council endorse an investigation by the Remutaka Road Action Group of up to three alternative routes over Remutaka Hill to help build transport resilience and improve the current insecure road link.
The group is campaigning for alternate routes to be investigated and for the road to be included on the government list of Roads of National Significance.
“I’m not into the new alternate highway over the hill,” Woodcock said. “A lot of people do not want that in this area. They do not want Wellington pushing us to become another suburb of Wellington.”
The road is “not as bad as people say. It just needs some upgrades on some corners to make it better,” he said, noting he was in favour of the current link being on the list of Roads of National Significance.
“I am a hard no to supporting the road” investigation, Councillor Rebecca Gray told Strategy Working Committee members last month.
Councillor Pip Maynard was “not happy to put my name to it (an endorsement of the investigation) until we know what it looks like.”
Councillor Aidan Ellims echoed that caution.
Deputy Mayor Melissa Sadler-Futter had asked councillors to endorse the Remutaka Road Action Group’s plan.
The idea behind endorsing the group was about “accepting that by only having one route between Wairarapa and Wellington, that is problematic for resilience,” she noted.
Councillor Colin Olds was “really in favour” of the Action Group’s aims and has been “harping on about this for years.” However, “not all in our community agree – in fact some are quite vocal about opposing any form of alternate route.”
South Wairarapa chief executive Janice Smith said the endorsement wouldn’t lock in support for an alternative route, but about supporting an investigation for one.
“The problem here is that if this doesn’t get elevated to the national land transport platform through NZTA, it will never get discussed in any of the conversations around the Government Policy Statement and the funding that is allocated for roading.”
Councillor Martin Bosley said as a regular user of the road, closures and delays “frustrate the living daylight out of me.”
Mayor Martin Connelly moved to delay a vote until councillors had heard directly from the Remutaka Road Action Group. Agreed.
