RMA Causes Road Gridlock

Monday 22 Jul 2002

ACT leader Richard Prebble took to the Auckland motorways this morning to announce ACT's plan to break the gridlock on the city's roads.

"The estimated cost of traffic congestion in Auckland is $1 billion a year," Mr Prebble said.

"The problem with Auckland's motorways has never been a lack of money, it's the Resource Management Act. Transit New Zealand has not been able to spend all the money allocated to Auckland, because no new motorway has managed to get planning approval since the RMA came into effect.

"This year's petrol tax increase was never needed and the government has taken most of the money for social spending.

"ACT's proposal is for a special Act of Parliament to enable Auckland's strategic roads to be built within the next three years. Auckland has the money in the Infrastructure Auckland fund. The motorways have already been planned. All that is needed is the legislative authority to build the new roads.

"ACT's positive solution to Auckland's roading congestion is yet another example of how ACT leads and the other parties follow. Parliament's Hansard record shows that neither of the two old parties mentioned Auckland's traffic congestion until ACT started to campaign on the issue, and ACT MP Penny Webster put forward her Completion of the Auckland Strategic Network private member's bill - and idea that the old parties now say they also support.

"Of course, Labour has been unable to take any effective action because of the Greens' hostility to any transport solution that involves roads.

"No solution that doesn't involve completing the motorway network will ever solve the city's transport problems.

"ACT also recognises that successive governments have under-invested in the whole nation's roading network, and it is ACT's policy that taxes raised from roading should go back to roading," Mr Prebble said.

ENDS

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