MINUTES OF A meeting of the Regional Transport Committee
Date: Friday 8 May 2015
Time: 10.15 am
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Venue: |
Council Chamber Hawke's Bay Regional Council 159 Dalton Street NAPIER |
A J Dick - Chairman
R Barker
R Bleakley
T Kerr
C Little
J Schwass (proxy for M Herbert)
S McKinley (proxy for T Kingston)
Advisory Members
J Emmerson
B Gregory
D Murray
C Bain
Technical Advisory Group
J Pannu – Hastings District Council
M Clews – Hastings District Council
R I’Anson – NZTA
C Dowdell – NZTA
C Goble – NZTA
Aram Goes – Wairoa District Council
In Attendance: L Lambert – Interim Chief Executive HBRC
F Wilson – Chairman HBRC
A Redgrave – HBRC Transport Manager
M Welsby – HBRC Sustainable Transport Co-ordinator
N van Pelt – Executive Assistant
1. Welcome / Apologies
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Resolution
RTC17/15 That the apologies from Mr Greg Brown, Mr Terry Kingston, Mr Kim Santer, and Mr Mark Herbert be received.
Kerr/Bleakley
CARRIED
Notices
A letter has been received from Port of Napier Ltd advising that Mr Chris Bain will continue his role as Port and Coastal Shipping representative on the Regional Transport Committee, with Mr Steve Young as his alternate.
2. Conflict of Interest Declarations
There were no conflict of interest declarations.
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Short Term Replacements for the Regional Transport Committee |
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1.That Mr S McKinley and Mr J Schwass be appointed as member/s of the Regional Transport Committee of the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council for the meeting of Friday, 08 May 2015 as short term replacement(s) on the Committee for Cr T Kingston and Cr M Herbert. CARRIED |
4. Confirmation of Minutes of the Regional Transport Committee Held on 6 March 2015
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Minutes of the Regional Transport Committee held on Friday, 6 March 2015, a copy having been circulated prior to the meeting, were taken as read and confirmed as a true and accurate record. CARRIED |
5. Matters Arising from Minutes of the Regional Transport Committee Held on 6 March 2015
In regards to Driver Licensing Issues regarding youth in Wairoa and Waupukurau, Cr R Barker has put in an official request to the NZTA which is now on its 3rd time extension. He will circulate the response once he receives it.
Cr R Barker left the meeting at 10.30am
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Follow-ups from Previous Regional Transport Committee Meetings |
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· Sealing of State Highway 38 A delegation to hand the unsealed portion of State Highway 38 to be managed by Wairoa District Council should be signed off today. The intention is still to have funding included for sealing included in the National Land Transport Programme in the future. · Napier Gisborne Rail Line HBRC recently met with KiwiRail and there is an initiative underway to re-engage in a more proactive strategy.
Transition plans underway for all councils with the expectation that the ONRC will be fully implemented by 2018-21.
The main concern expressed by NZTA had been the safe exit of trucks from the plant, but it was not clear how the additional traffic would impact on the wider network. There would be an average of 50 container movements per day to the Port, meaning there would be 100 truck movements in all. The operators of the plant have undertaken not to use Marine Parade. Mr Clews said the consent for the Hastings plant was for a large quantity of water but the company will be testing the market initially. The plant is located in the Whakatu Industrial Park and initial advice was that the roads could cope with the extra traffic.. The issue of the bottling plants at Awatoto and Whakatu will be left as a standing item on the agenda. |
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1. That the Regional Transport Committee receives the “Follow-ups from Previous Regional Transport Committee Meetings” report. CARRIED |
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Call for Any Minor Items not on the Agenda |
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Regional Transport Committee Membership |
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Ms Anne Redgrave explained that during the submission process on the Regional Land Transport Plan and Regional Public Transport Plan, several submitters proposed that there should be representation on the Committee from public transport users, cyclists and pedestrians and that some nominated responsibility should be taken for environmental issues. While not wishing to increase the size of the committee, Cr Dick has held informal discussions with the cultural interests advisory member, Brian Gregory, who may be prepared to add environmental issues to his portfolio. Mr David Murray, is happy to proceed to be the private motorists’ representative, and is prepared to add public transport, cycling and the needs of pedestrians to his portfolio responsibility but felt that contact should be made with the submitters to seek their views. Mr Bain raised the issue of regional advocacy and funding. The Wellington region has a top ten projects wish-list and perhaps this region should be lobbying nationally for a greater share of the funding. In Wellington the mayors sit on the Regional Transport Committee and other regions such as Bay of Plenty are successful in lobbying for a greater share of funding. It was pointed out that mayors appoint whoever they feel appropriate to represent their councils. Ms Bleakley responded that the allocation of funding is not a political process. Funding is allocated by NZTA independently of political influence through a well prescribed process and how this is reported in the media is not always accurate. The Chair reiterated that there is now a regional development fund for regions such as Hawke’s Bay that do not have a Road of National Significance within their boundaries. Ms Redgrave said that the funding process addresses growing transport demand through population and economic growth and solves transport problems. Funding is directed to regions which have these issues. The Hawke’s Bay region has done well over the past few years to address its transport issues, with further work underway through the Napier Port Access project. It is not clear therefore, what major demand is not being met. Cr Kerr said that the mayors are utilized where they need to be and there are times when it is useful to have good connections in Welliington. The Chair asked Ms Redgrave to contact the Bay of Plenty Regional Transport Committee to see if there is any useful information that the Hawke’s Bay Committee should consider. Mr Clews clarified that the infrastructure plan referred to by Mr Bain is probably the Smart Growth strategy, similar to the Heretaunga Plains Urban Development Strategy (HPUDS). An update meeting for HPUDS is currently being arranged. |
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The Regional Transport Committee recommends that Council: 1. Agrees that the decisions to be made are not significant under the criteria contained in Council’s adopted policy on significance and that Council can exercise its discretion under Sections 79(1)(a) and 82(3) of the Local Government Act 2002 and make decisions on this issue without conferring directly with the community and persons likely to be affected by or to have an interest in the decision due to the nature and significance of the issue to be considered and decided. 2. Amends the Regional Transport Committee Terms of Reference in regard to advisory members’ portfolio responsibilities 3. Notes the discussion on infrastructure priorities and forward planning CARRIED |
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Variation to the Regional Land Transport Programme 2012-15 |
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Mr C Dowdell provided an update on the Mangahohi Bridge Replacement. State Highway 38 have had a temporary Bailey bridge in place for some time. The NZ Transport Agency’s Highway and Network Operations has had an opportunity to advance the replacement of the bridge by way of a variation, and would like to bring it forward into their 2012-2015 programme to get this completed. |
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That the Regional Transport Committee : 1. Agrees that the decisions to be made are not significant under the criteria contained in Council’s adopted policy on significance and that Council can exercise its discretion under Sections 79(1)(a) and 82(3) of the Local Government Act 2002 and make decisions on this issue without conferring directly with the community and persons likely to be affected by or to have an interest in the decision due to the nature and significance of the issue to be considered and decided. 2. Agrees to vary the 2012-15 Regional Land Transport Programme to include the Mangahohi Bridge Replacement project; and 3. Agrees that this is not a significant variation to the Programme and does not need to undergo public consultation. CARRIED |
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Verbal Reports from Advisory Representatives |
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Mr D Murray – the contractor that provides the service for driver testing is now operating out of VTNZ offices in Taradale Road. |
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That the Regional Transport Committee receives the verbal reports from the Advisory Representatives. CARRIED |
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NZTA Central Region - Regional Director's Report for May 2015 |
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Ms R Bleakley presented the Regional Director’s Report. In regards to Napier Port Access Business Case, the strategic case has progressed and NZTA expects to deliver the Programme Business Case to the Minister of Transport by June 2015. The Detailed Business will be completed by June 2016 if not earlier. Mr Dowdell is happy to provide updates at meetings The Meeanee Quay-Watchman Road-Expressway intersection upgrade is a stand-alone project in the next programme. However, if there is an opportunity to bring it forward, NZTA will pursue this. |
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1. That the Regional Transport Committee receives the NZTA Central Region – Regional Director’s Report for May 2015’. Bleakly/Dick CARRIED |
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May 2015 HBRC Transport Manager's Report |
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It was noted that the programme business case for SH2 Napier to Gisborne was unlikely to consider the Rail to Road proposal in any detail. The Notice of Requirement on the Whakatu Arterial Link has now been approved, with the commissioner’s decision received several days ago. Napier City Council’s reconstruction of Te Awa Ave will commence at the end of May. Wairoa District Council’s renewals programme is now 100% complete and rock revetment treatment of the Black Beach Dropouts about 70% complete. In regards to the proposal to route forestry traffic via Racecourse Road, Mr McKinley of CHBDC stated thus far a majority of Porangahau Rd residents have had no issue with logging truck traffic. |
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1. That the Regional Transport Committee receives the May 2015 HBRC Transport Manager’s Report. CARRIED |
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May 2015 Roadsafe Update Report |
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The “Just Another Saturday Night” programme has been nominated for a police award at the end of May. This is a prestigious national award. Miss Linda Anderson, RoadSafe Hawke’s Bay manager has been asked to present some guest lectures at Auckland University. The Youth Alcohol Expo is being held at Pettigrew Arena next week. A road safety programme is being presented at Managroa Prison. This is a joint activity with Police, Corrections and the road safety team to work with prisoners with repeated driving offences. |
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1. That the Regional Transport Committee receives the ‘May 2015 RoadSafe HB Update Report‘. CARRIED |
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Draft Regional Cycle Plan |
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This item was taken as read with a minor amendment. |
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That the Regional Transport Committee 1. receives the “Draft Regional Cycle Plan” report. 2. endorses the draft plan with a minor amendment noted. CARRIED |
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Public Transport Update |
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Ms M Welsby explained that bus patronage has fallen this year, which may be to do with the drop in fuel prices. There has still been no progress with the formalizing of Napier’s bus stops. Ms Welsby showed the Committee some new colour-coded signs for the buses which will make bus identification easier for the sight-impaired. The design has been approved by the Royal NZ Foundation for the Blind. |
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1. That the Regional Transport Committee receives the report ”Public Transport Update” CARRIED |
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Minor Items Not on the Agenda |
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Closure:
There being no further business the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 12.00pm on Friday 8 May 2015.
Signed as a true and correct record.
DATE: ................................................ CHAIRMAN: ...............................................