Mixed views as deadline nears for feedback on Sounds roads rebuild

With the prospect of higher rates for Marlborough homeowners, there is no straight forward answer for fixing the broken Sounds network, but some say it is understandable "there's a price to be paid".

The rebuild is proposed to cost ratepayers $95 million, so Marlborough's deputy mayor David Croad said the council wanted to hear feedback from everyone on the options that have been put forward.

It comes after there had been 680 responses to an online survey by midday on Friday, which sought feedback on the "emerging preferred options" and "hazard adaption pathways" for the Sounds roading network and marine infrastructure. The survey would close at 5pm on Tuesday.

Anakiwa resident Faye Daken, who came into Blenheim on Friday to run some admin, said the roads in the Sounds were "rubbish, rotten clay".

"I suspect in the early days, a lot of those homes were holiday homes, now there's a lot of permanent," Daken said.

Daken said there were plenty of things they missed out on that others had - like street lighting and rubbish collection, or just the fact they had to use septic tanks, so she did not see a problem with pumping some money into the roads.

"I guess there's a price to be paid," she said.

"We do choose to live out there. But, there's not a great deal of services that we benefit from."

Blenheim resident Sarah Brown said while she did not want to pay more rates, she was "not surprised" this was the outcome. She was not yet aware the survey was happening - but intended to look into it.

"I try not to worry about things. I don't think it's particularly fair, but there's so many things that aren't fair," she said.

"It doesn't mean I like it, but I expect that [rate increases] are going to happen."

She thought Kenepuru Road would always be a problem "out of people's hands" so questioned if it was a good idea to pour more money into it.

"There's going to be downpour, after downpour, after downpour, they're not going to be able to fix that," she said.

Blenheim resident Mia Lasker​, 20, said she would really like to own a home within five years.

She said she did not use the roads often, so worried about people being lumped with higher rates.

"Most people are already living paycheck-to-paycheck," Lasker said.

"We have already got inflation, and we're heading towards a recession."

Croad said it was important the project team, council, and Waka Kotahi had as many views as possible, as it would make the business case for "critical government funding" as robust as possible.

The Marlborough District Council revealed its preferred options for restoring the roads in mid-June - which could cost $160m.

That $160m did not count the money needed to have back-up marine options if and when the region gets more natural disasters.

The $160m ballpark figure was working on the assumption Waka Kotahi would fund about half of it, which it has not yet committed to, and ratepayers across the region will cover the rest. However, with inflation, the actual cost to council - and ratepayers - comes in at $95m.

For a typical house in Blenheim, with a land value of $300,000, rates would gradually increase up to an extra $300 a year - when repairs finished in 2029 - and would stay at $300 a year more for another 20 years.

The survey asked residents what they considered was an acceptable increase to their annual rates in order to have improved access in and out of the Sounds, ranging from $0 to $10,000. It also asked for feedback on whether those with properties in the Sounds should pay a higher proportion of the improvements.

Croad urged people to direct friends and whānau to various resources on the council's website, including the explanatory videos, engagement booklets and a Zoom webinar recording from one of the community engagement meetings.

"We want to hear from everyone in Marlborough because ultimately all of us will have to contribute to the cost of building a sustainable transport network in the Sounds."

The project team would prepare a business case that included the public's feedback, which the council would then review and adopt before providing it to Waka Kotahi for endorsement before the end of this year.

The council would likely consult all of Marlborough's residents in 2024 through a special consultative process on the final proposed options, and costs, before making a final decision.

Waka Kotahi would then make a decision about its funding contribution. It was hoped construction could begin in some areas at the end of 2024.

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