Press release. From - Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre Incorporated.

' NZTA focus has become more on economic performance and less on environmental and social wellbeing.'

For many years I have been involved in a number of community groups seeking reasonable mitigation against excessive noise and pollution (carbon emissions and tyre dust) for residents living in close proximity of the HB Expressway; this dates from the planning of the Kennedy Road overbridge.

Over the years we consulted with a town planner, a lawyer and the Environment Commissioner, and lobbied Councils, Politicians, and this committee.

What we achieved was:-

A wooden fence placed at the rear of Clarence Cox Crescent by Napier City Council.

Screening vegetation planted by HB Regional Council.

Smooth road surface provided by the then CEO of Transit NZ.

Since 2006 no further mitigation measures have taken place.

In 2014, we found that we lost the benefit of the smooth road surface when NZTA covered over it in an attempt to hold off re-surfacing as long as possible. We found this out after the fact, and met with NZTA, only to be told it would be 2-3 years before re-surfacing.

Over 10 years since these mitigation measures were put in place, traffic on the expressway has increased significantly, particularly the heavy traffic. Port traffic, for instance, has doubled and is forecast to continue to do so with port expansion. So mitigation measures should be increasing, not being stripped away.

What was reasonable mitigation 10 years ago would be less than adequate now, and a pittance 10 years from now.

Unfortunately, during this time, the focus has become more on economic performance and less on environmental and social wellbeing.

In March 2016, after being told resurfacing was still 2 years away a deputation was made to the Hawkes Bay Regional Land Transport Committee, by Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre, about concerns regarding the expressway, the volume and size of heavy vehicles and resulting pollution.

The Chairman asked Chuck Dowdell (NZTA) to meet with the residents and report back to the next RTC meeting.

This meeting took place in April, but by the June RTC meeting, Mr. Dowdell had moved from his job and no report was made.

When we meet with NZTA we are typically asked what it is we want, and then get told why it can't be done. We understand that the local office can't make the decisions, that only happened when the CEO came up and took ownership of the problem.

NZTA works on theories and modelling, but we, the residents, live with the reality.

2015 data from NZTA shows 2-3 heavy vehicles per hour between 2-5am.

Our monitoring in 2017 shows 138 heavy vehicles in that same 3 hour time frame.

(NZTA 2015 data, midnight to 8am, 130-140 trucks. Our data 2017 – 481 trucks, 12-8am)

People in Wellington tell us that the concrete safety barriers on the sides of the overbridge act as noise barriers.

The residents can tell you that there are no concrete safety barriers on the Kennedy Rd overbridge.

They were included in the plans for the Meeanee overbridges when they realised they could not get away with the same shoddy job again.

In February NZTA finally resurfaced the Kennedy Road Overbridge section of the expressway with quiet road surface. That is promising, but the Westminster Avenue section is just as important as the Clarence Cox Crescent and Downing Avenue sections and it could be up to another 6 years before this is completed.

Once the quiet surface has been reinstated, we will only be back to where we were 10 years ago, then we need to move forward with further mitigation to compensate for the increasing traffic.

So, I'm not going to offer any more suggestions, I'm simply saying , “you are our representatives, you advocate for us locally and in Wellington”.

The appropriate decision makers need to come here and meet with the residents, talk to them, listen to them, and see the problems first hand, and then address the problems. There are different issues on different sections of the expressway.

I'm not here to prove our case again, that was done back in 2005 with the PCE report and the subsequent retrofitting of low noise surface. The problem has not gone away, it just needs to be addressed.

Other areas, such as Marine Pde and Georges Dr complained about heavy traffic and got it moved from their area. There has been a general trend to push the heavy traffic on to the Expressway. We complain but get nothing. We accept that we can't move it, but we want mitigation; this is a residential area too.

Some years ago when then Deputy Prime Minister, Michael Cullen and Transit NZ CEO, Robin Dunlop visited the area, they thought all the houses on the expressway side of Clarence Cox Cres should not have been built, then we would have a proper buffer zone – now landowners (not necessarily residents) are getting consents for building on the back of these sections, right up against the expressway. Unfortunately, there will be people desperate enough to live in them.

We also get complaints of trucks using horns during night/early morning hours at Kennedy Rd overbridge, it has been a designated area for horn blasting from trucks for years. The frequency and regularity is more than just for emergency purposes and disruptive to sleep patterns of residents, many children.

Other places have more regulation for unnecessary horn use, and I'm sure it would cover the cost to police it.

Janet Crispin

CEAC Treasurer

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