Napier Port's CEO Todd Dawson said it was projecting an increase in traffic of 187 per cent over the next eight years.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=12201629

A copy of a report came to our centre several days ago from Napier Port to a media group that states;

“…growth in key freight types through the Port will increase truck movements (in and outbound) by 187% (being 171,000 truck movements), along the critical Ahuriri Access corridor, in the ten years to 2027.”
Napier Port.

Napier city is already truck gridlocked and any increase of this magnitude will destroy the amenity values of many of Napier’s residents living near the truck corridors to Napier Port, - ‘endangering their health and well-being’

Also truck freight will vastly increase ‘global climate change emissions’, which is outside the governments climate change policy directive about to be released. Our group and others in the area have many times over the last 19 yrs requested for a dedicated rail service to the Napier Port to move freight by rail not road as many other NZ Ports are doing including our sister Port in Tauranga. Will the Environment Court support our call?

Napier Port, local councils and NZTA are not consulting with the affected residents groups in a meaningful manner to resolve any mitigation at present, and the residents are seeking satisfactory mitigation for truck noise, vibration and air pollution they have continually faced for the last 20 years since truck freight to the Port began massively increasing. We have a report from the Parliamentary Commission for the Environment (PCE) confirming the ongoing adverse effects to residents, and several residents groups are joining to seek legal redress.

The matter of measurement of truck noise is only one of the many issues identified in the PCE report. The mere fact that the PCE recognised that peak noise levels should be considered (not currently used by NZTA or councils) is just one issue.

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