South Wairarapa Council Set To Throw Weight Behind New Remutaka Road

Saturday, 8 February 2025, 9:46 pm
Article: Emily Ireland - Local Democracy Reporter

South Wairarapa District Council is set to endorse an investigation into a new alternate highway over the Remutaka Hill.

“While this is a long-term project, potentially spanning several decades, it is crucial that we begin the conversation now,” Deputy Mayor Melissa Sadler-Futter said.

“Without action today, we risk facing the same challenges and discussions many years into the future.”

The Remutaka Road Action Group is campaigning for an alternate route over the Remutaka Hill to be investigated and for the road to be included in the Government’s list of Roads of National Significance.

The group recently presented at Greater Wellington Regional Council’s Regional Transport Committee where they received widespread support from regional mayors.

However, for an investigation to be done, it would need to be added to NZTA’s list of projects for the state highway network.

“Given our district’s proximity to the hill, the number of residents who commute daily, and our reliance on this route for tourism, economic development, and resilience, I believe our council should formally support this initiative through a letter of endorsement,” Sadler-Futter said in an agenda item for Wednesday’s Strategy Working Committee meeting.

Masterton and Carterton councils were also supportive of the initiative.

Simon Casey of the Remutaka Road Action Group previously dubbed Wairarapa’s transport situation as a “Russian Roulette-type situation”.

“If we were to have a closure anywhere near what happened to the Coromandel or Manawatu Gorge, an earthquake or something, that would have a devastating effect on the economy of Wairarapa,” he told the regional council in November.

He said the current state highway route was unsafe, unpleasant, and offered no resilience to the region because there was no viable alternate route.

There were more than 600 registered supporters of the action group, including ACT leader David Seymour.

In a supporter statement, Seymour said the action group was “on the money”.

“At the end of the day, nobody cares more about Wairarapa than people from Wairarapa, so the case for a Wairarapa road must come from Wairarapa,” he said.

“With local support, the first hurdle for Government support is cleared, and a better road will become a realistic prospect, then a real project.”

The group’s aims have also been officially endorsed by Ngāti Kahungunu, Wairarapa MP Mike Butterick, Wairarapa Labour List MP Kieran McAnulty, Destination Wairarapa, Business Wairarapa, regional councillor Adrienne Staples, Carterton Mayor Ron Mark, and Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy, all of whom have statements of support featured on the action group’s website.

– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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