Homeowners in the Marlborough Sounds are pleased to hear more funding has been approved to fix roads damaged by flooding, such as that of August 2022. Photo: MARLBOROUGH EXPRESS / Supplied
Homeowners in the Kenepuru Sound are "very pleased" more funding will be pumped into a multimillion-dollar effort to fix damaged roads in Marlborough.
But residents say three years is a long time to wait for the flood-damaged roads in the Marlborough Sounds to be fixed, so the job needs to be completed as quickly as possible.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi this week announced it would pump another $100.4 million into the next stage of the roading recovery in the Marlborough Sounds. About $130m was allocated in earlier phases.
It was 71 percent of what the council had asked for when it submitted its funding request to the NZTA board after Long-term Plan deliberations in June. The board considered the application on 22 August.
Kenepuru Rd resident Stefan Schulz said residents would "take whatever money they could get" to fix the road. People were "jumping up and down with joy", he said.
However, he did point out that the funding was less than what the council asked for.
The cost of repairs was estimated at $230m and the council had asked for $141.4m. Some of this was for improvements for the roads badly damaged during storm events in July 2021 and August 2022.
Any funding for improvements was subject to further detailed design work, the transport agency said.
A number of public meetings and more than one round of consultation has been needed to get to a final decision on how to fund the road rebuild. Photo: MARLBOROUGH EXPRESS / Supplied
Kenepuru and Central Sounds Residents Association president Andrew Caddie said he was "very pleased" to hear the funding had been approved.
"However, I've got to say it's been a damn long time coming. But look, we've got to put that behind us.
"We are very much focused on getting the damage from the two storm events repaired, and this enables that work to get under way properly."
Kenepuru homeowner Russell McConchie had a holiday home that was still yellow-stickered, which meant he could not stay at his property when it rained.
McConchie said he was still waiting for answers about a section of road by his property and how it would be fixed. He had been told the design still needed to be completed, so he hoped the latest funding announcement would get things moving.
"Three years is a long time to wait," he said. "The money is no longer an excuse."
The Marlborough District Council says opening Kenepuru Rd up to everyone is a priority. Photo: MARLBOROUGH EXPRESS / Supplied
Kenepuru Rd resident Joy Redwood said she wanted the funding to be spent "wisely and not wasted".
"And that it happens as soon as possible," she said.
She welcomed the idea of opening the road to full public access, which the council said was a priority. That would include trucks too.
"As long as we get trucks and trailers," she said, adding that this would help to move stock and fertiliser. A number of farmers had been using a subsidised barge service but this had still been costly.
Marlborough Mayor Nadine Taylor said the council would continue to work with the transport agency to confirm the appropriate business case approach for the road improvements and the expected timeline for that work.
Taylor said the council "of course" had hoped the entire business case for the roads was approved.
A site near Moenui Rd is one of two complex repairs recently completed on Queen Charlotte Drive. Photo: MARLBOROUGH EXPRESS / Supplied
"But if we have a little bit further to travel to secure the remaining funds required for road improvements, then that is what we will do on behalf of our affected communities.
"This is not only about roads - it is about real people who are at the heart of Marlborough's largest recovery project."
The NZTA funding comes after the Marlborough District Council finalised how it would pay its $104m share of the repair bill for the flood-damaged roads at a meeting in June, following consultation with the community through the council's long-term Plan.
After considering hundreds of submissions, the final cost to ratepayers was tweaked from the council's draft plan released for consultation in April.
It drastically reduced how much Kenepuru ratepayers would pay by slightly increasing the charges to non-Sounds zones. Kenepuru had the largest repair bill of the five Marlborough Sounds zones.
However, because the council abandoned its $40m marine infrastructure upgrade plans, most ratepayers had an overall decrease in the amount they would pay towards the road repairs. A $500,000 marine study was still in the budget.
LDR is local body journalism funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.