Minutes of Regional Transport Committee

MINUTES OF A meeting of the Regional Transport Committee

Date: Friday 17 May 2013

Time: 10.15 am

Venue:

Council Chamber

Hawke's Bay Regional Council

159 Dalton Street

NAPIER

Present: AJ Dick – Chairman

T Kingston – CHB District Council

T Kerr – Hastings District Council

C Wallace – Objective Representative – Safety and Personal Security

L Probert - Wairoa District Council

N Jones – Objective Representative – Public Health

J Emmerson - Advisory Representative – Road Transport

K Santer – Advisory Representative - Rail

J Chetwynd – NZTA

B Pritchard – Advisory Representative – Environmental Sustainability

D Murray – Objective Representative – Access and Mobility Advisory

C Bain - Objective Representative Economic Development, Advisory Representative – Coastal Shipping

M Mohi – Objective Representative – Cultural Interests

K Furlong – Napier City Council

L Remmerswaal – HBRC Councillor

In Attendance: C Gilbertson, Transport Manager

M Welsby, Sustainable Transport Co-ordinator

Mr A Goes – Wairoa District Council

Mr S McKinley – CHB District Council

Mr J Pannu – Hastings District Council

Mr M Clews – Hastings District Council

Mr C Dowdell – NZTA

Mr D Broadley – Communications Manager - HBRC

M Drury – Committee Secretary

1. WELCOME/APOLOGIES/NOTICES

Chairman Dick welcomed all present and noted at the conclusion of today’s meeting, Committee members would be visiting the Port of Napier.

Chairman Dick acknowledged the outstanding work undertaken by Linda Anderson, RoadSafe Co-ordinator at the recent Youth Alcohol Expo. The messages the year 11 students received at the Expo are very strong and persuasive.

Inspector Wallace agreed with Chairman Dick and said the Expo was a very powerful vehicle around choices made by students and the consequences of wrong choices. He also noted that senior members from the Police force from all over the country had attended the Expo.

Councillor Kingston drew the Committee’s attention to an excellent editorial in HB Today this week on the Expo.

Chairman Dick also congratulated Mr John Emmerson on his induction into the NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame in 2012.

An apology was received from Mr J Schwass and Cr F Wilson.

RTC1/13

Kingston/Chetwynd

CARRIED

2. CONFLICT OF INTEREST DECLARATIONS

There were no Conflicts of Interest declared.

3.	Short Term Replacements for the Regional Transport Committee
	There were no short term replacements.

4. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES OF the Regional Transport Committee held on 15 February 2013

RTC2/13

Minutes of the Regional Transport Committee held on Friday, 15 February 2013, a copy having been circulated prior to the meeting, were taken as read and confirmed following amendment.

Kingston/Furlong

CARRIED.

5. Matters Arising from Minutes of the Regional Transport Committee held on Friday 15 February 2013

There were no matters arising from the minutes.

Action Items from Previous Regional Transport Committee Meetings

Mrs Gilbertson updated the Committee on the Action Items list.

Mr Broadley updated the Committee on progress of the development of the Management Plan for HB Cycle Trails which was being undertaken in conjunction with HB Tourism. Discussions had also been had with Napier City Council and Hastings District Council. The Plan was currently in draft form but a final document would be presented to the August meeting of the Regional Transport Committee and then to Council for formalisation.

Mr Broadley explained that the key focus of the Plan was to attract visitors to the region to give them a world class experience and in turn maximise the return for the region along with the capability of building onto the current plan.

The Committee discussed the exclusion of Wairoa and Central Hawke’s Bay from the Management Plan and concern was expressed that the two areas should be included in the Plan. Mr Broadley explained that the three trails included in the Plan were Government funded but agreed that consideration could be given to CHB and Wairoa being part of the Plan in the future.

Responding to a question, Mr Broadley confirmed that the maintenance of the trails was included in the Management Plan.

Mr Dowdell confirmed that traffic counts had been carried out on SH2 Napier to Wairoa since the closure of the line and to date there had not been a significant increase in traffic.

Inspector Wallace advised that the 60Km speed limit at Paki Paki School was working well.

RTC3/13

Resolution:

1. That the Regional Transport Committee receives the report “Action Items from Previous Regional Transport Committee Meetings”.

Kingston/Kerr

CARRIED

7.	Consideration of General Business Items
	1. RoadSafe Governance Group – Date of Next Meeting

Public Transport Update

Mrs Welsby provided the Committee with an update on the Regional Council’s public transport services, including trends since the previous update in February 2013.

Mrs Welsby drew the Committee’s attention to a graph contained in the agenda item which showed a breakdown of passenger categories during 2012. Child passengers accounted for the highest number of passengers.

The Committee noted that the overall performance of the bus service continues to be positive with passenger trips for the month of March 2013 being the highest on record at 76,119. The uptake of bikes on buses had also exceed expectations.

The Committee also noted that public transport is contributing to Councils’ visions and social outcomes.

Responding to a request from the Chairman, Councillor Furlong updated the Committee on the proposed new Napier City bus terminal plans. The project was outlined in the Napier City Council’s draft Annual Plan and feedback would be received from the public via the Council’s submission process.

RTC4/13

Resolution:

1. That the Regional Transport Committee receives the Public Transport Update.

Probert/Remmerswaal

CARRIED

Transport Manager's Report

Mrs Gilbertson updated the Committee on the relevant transport matters, commented on issues that had been actioned since the February Transport Committee meeting and also gave an update from the Transport Advisory Group (TAG) on issues that had been raised at their regular meetings.

Mrs Gilbertson advised that a submission had been sent on the FAR (Funding Assistant Rate) review from the Regional Transport Committee and an acknowledgement of receipt had been received. Mrs Chetwynd clarified why the second round of consultation would not take place until early 2014.

Mrs Gilbertson advised that a workshop would be held on Friday, 24 May to seek input from key stakeholders on the Regional Cycling Plan which would cover liveability, health and tourism and aspirations going forward over the next 5-10 years . Invitations had been sent and responses were required by Monday, 20 May.

RTC5/13

Resolution:

That the Regional Transport Committee receive the Transport Manager’s report.

Kingston/Remmerswaal

CARRIED

10.

NZTA Central Region - Regional Director's Report

Mr Dowdell gave a presentation outlining the confirmed nine locations of the additional passing opportunities on SH2 - Napier to Wairoa. The passing opportunities were being funded from the additional funds from Central Government and if they were able to be constructed within budget, construction of further passing opportunities may be considered. In response to a question Mr Dowdell advised which passing opportunities were extensions to existing and which were new, these were:

Sth Te Ngaru Stream Br Nth	New
Sth Te Ngaru Stream Br Sth	New
Aropaonui Rd	Extension
Nth Kahika Underpass	Extension
Sth Putirino	Extension
Top of Shaws Cut Nth	New
Top of Shaws Cut Sth	New
Top of Waihua Hill Nth	New
Top of Waihua Hill Sth	New

Mr Dowdell also advised that registrations of interest had closed this week for the project and contracts would be going out in August with construction planned to commence in September.

Responding to a question, Mr Dowdell confirmed that he would include further information about the additional passing opportunities from his presentation as part of the RTC Minutes.

Mr Dowdell confirmed that NZTA had not received any complaints in relation to the detours around the city put in place by Napier City Council to enable stormwater upgrades on Marine Parade to be undertaken. Noise complaints had been minimal.

Ms Chetwynd gave an update on NZTA’s role in the delivery of the Regional Transport Strategy and the National Land Transport Programme in the Hawke’s Bay region and also outlined progress on several national priorities which are being pursued throughout the country which Hawke’s Bay has an interest in. A copy of the updated spreadsheet outlining Hawke’s Bay “R” funds is appended to the Minutes.

RTC6/13

Resolution:

1. That the Regional Transport Committee receives the Regional Director’s report.

Probert/Remmerswaal

CARRIED

11.

Verbal Reports from Objective Representatives

Mr D Murray – Access and Mobility

Mr Murray advised that there appeared to a timing issue with the traffic lights at the intersection of Hastings and Tennyson Street. This should be attended to in light of traffic detours currently in the area.

Mr J Emmerson – Road Transport

Mr Emmerson advised the HPMV system was working well, however in Auckland it is practically impossible to implement and the Transport Forum would be making a submission on this issue in the future.

Mr B Pritchard – Environmental Sustainability

Mr Pritchard gave a short presentation illustrating traffic movements as they negotiated their way on SH2 between Napier and Wairoa.

Mr Pritchard also advised that a team at Canterbury University had developed a steam gasifier which was part of their goal of developing a plant that would enable a medium to large sawmill to use wood waste to meet all its energy requirements and produced bio fuel.

Councillor Kerr acknowledged the work and ongoing communication undertaken by PanPac in the rural community in relation to their ongoing operations at Whirinaki.

RTC7/13

Resolution:

That the report be received.

Probert/Kerr

CARRIED

12.

General Business

Item

Topic

Councillor / Staff

RoadSafe Governance Group – date for next meeting

Mrs Gilbertson will advise date by email in the near future.

Carol Gilbertson

Closure:

There being no further business the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 11.35am on Friday, 17 May 2013.

Signed as a true and correct record.

DATE: ................................................ CHAIRMAN: ...............................................