Through early engagement with the community and the annual residents survey we heard a lot of feedback highlighting areas for improvement in our transportation programme.
In recent years our roads have deteriorated due to a decrease in investment for maintenance and renewals below what was needed to keep up with wear and tear. NZTA investment support for road maintenance has been restricted. We see deterioration in our roads through more and larger potholes, cracks, and rougher road surfaces. Longer term this will undermine the structural integrity of the roads, making repairs much more expensive. When road conditions become dangerous, we undertake reactive maintenance. This is much more costly than carrying out maintenance in a planned and systematic way. NZTA currently supports road maintenance up to a certain level with 51% funding, while the remaining cost is covered through rates.
Our preferred Option A
Invest to maintain sealed road condition
We plan to increase the budgets for road maintenance significantly. This level of investment would be enough to avoid any further substantial deterioration of sealed road conditions and allow for some gradual improvement focused on high use roads.
The additional investment allows us to address more deteriorating road conditions as part of a planned programme, which is more cost-effective than constantly reacting to urgent issues.
The rates and debt impacts of this option are included in our proposed Plan.
We anticipate receiving NZTA funding for 51%, forecast to be %75.9 million over 10 years, for this option. If NZTA funding is not provided at this level, we will use the Council’s funding to undertake as much sealed road maintenance as we can but the amount of work would be reduced.
| Benefits | Costs |
|---|---|
| The number and scale of potholes, cracks, roughness would not increase. |
Higher level of rates to pay for the Council’s 49% share of investment to maintain road condition. |
| The general condition of sealed roads would not deteriorate further and would gradually improve on busier roads. |
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| Resilience of the road network would be maintained. |
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| Less time and money would be spent inefficiently on reactive repairs to sealed roads when they approach or reach dangerous condition. | |
| NZTA funding is likely to be available to support this level of road maintenance. |
Operational costs (10 years): $77.6 million
Capital costs (10 years): $71.2 million
Rates revenue (all types of rates):
Year 1: $3.4 million
Year 2: $3.8 million
Year 3: $4.2 million
Years 4 – 10: $42.0 million
This is equivalent to an average rates cost of $149 (incl GST) per household/business per annum from 2024/2025.
Impact on debt: ↑ $27.1 million
Effect on levels of service: ↑
Alternative Option B
Higher investment to improve sealed road condition
In this option we would invest further in the maintenance of sealed roads. This would be over and above the level in our preferred Option A, and more of the investment would be in the next few years. This level of investment would improve sealed road conditions over time. The additional investment would allow us to address further deteriorating road conditions as part of a planned programme.
| Benefits | Costs |
|---|---|
| Fewer and smaller potholes, cracks, roughness, and general condition of sealed roads would improve. | Even higher level of rates to pay for the investment to maintain and improve sealed road condition. |
| Even less time and money would be spent inefficiently on reactive repairs to sealed roads when they approach or reach dangerous condition. | Funding from NZTA is unlikely to be available for this increased level of maintenance. This means we are likely to fund all of the additional investment forecast to be $72.8 million over 10 years. |
Compared with Option A – Additional rates revenue increase (all types of rates) by:
Year 1: $1.5 million
Year 2: $1.7 million
Year 3: $2.0 million
Years 4 – 10: $19.9 million
This is equivalent to an average rates increase of $67 (incl GST) per household/business per annum from 2024/2025 in addition to Option A.
Impact on debt: ↑ $14.7 million increase compared with Option A
Alternative Option C
Lower investment with deteriorating sealed road condition
This option would involve continuing our investment in road maintenance at a similar level to recent years, i.e. below the level required to maintain their condition. This level of investment would not be enough to prevent significant deterioration of our sealed roads so conditions would worsen over time. Less of the deterioration would be addressed than through a planned programme and we would have to respond more frequently to problems when they became urgent.
| Benefits | Costs |
|---|---|
| Lower level of rates to pay for sealed road maintenance. | Road conditions would deteriorate, particularly on roads with lower traffic volumes. |
| The number and scale of potholes, cracks, roughness and general condition of sealed roads would deteriorate further particularly on roads with lower traffic volumes. | |
| Inefficient, reactive maintenance would increase. | |
| Longer term, costs would be higher if we wanted to bring the network condition back to levels similar to now in the future. | |
| The roading network would become less resilient. |
Compared with Option A – Rates revenue reduction (all types of rates) by:
Year 1: $1.0 million
Year 2: $1.0 million
Year 3: $1.3 million
Years 4 – 10: $12.2 million
This is equivalent to an average rates decrease of $45 (incl GST) per household/business per annum from 2024/2025 compared with Option A.
Impact on debt: ↓ $7.8 million reduction compared with Option A by year 10.
