New Zealand Government Launches Tender for $2 Billion Infrastructure Investment

Online, July 5, 2010 (Newswire.com) - [For Immediate Release]
(Wellington, 5 July 2010) - In frenzy for the $2 billion infrastructure contract, road contractors are lining up for the bid to complete Auckland's western ring route between Manukau and Albany. New Zealand government's Transport Agency made the announcement yesterday that its board had agreed to the $2 billion infrastructural road construction fund for the extension of State Highway 20 through to Waterview.

The winning company in the deal will perform tasks such as digging twin tunnels for 2.4km out of the 4.5km link, enlarging the Northwestern Motorway between St Lukes and Westgate. However, the agency received both acclamation and criticism for the project, criticism chiefly from the Tunnel Community group, for its decision to commence tendering for the over $1 billion plus infrastructure investment project before it had sought resource permissions and land designations.

The Transport Agency's call for registrations of interest is expected to be advertised on its website and international websites from Friday, though the agency and the Transport Minister, Steven Joyce, reiterated that no construction work will commence on the principal project till approvals are received via a new streamlined national consenting mechanism. In July, the Transport Agency will apply for consent from the New Zealand Environmental Protection Authority, and expects that the authority will give it a favorable decision from a board of inquiry by 2011 July, after a "one-stop" hearing in March or April. The Transport Agency's chief executive officer, Geoff Dangerfield, in the company of the Transport Minister, gave out a detailed "indicative" schedule that includes a construction start of October 2011, though he noted that there might be possible appeals limited to points of law that could alter the scheduling.

Additionally, in two weeks time from now, a meeting between the Auckland City Council's transport and arts, recreation and culture committees will be held to consider final submissions from community representatives before confirming a list of easing measures to be sought through the consenting process. Tunnel community spokeswoman, Margi Watson, critised the calling of tenders when there is no evidence of true mitigation or proper legal course.

Watson, a resident of Waterview and her organisation want the tunnels to run the full length of the route. Watson further criticised the Transport Minister for what she called "creating undue influence over the decision-making process" through sanctioning of the early tenders call. However, Dangerfield pledged to work together with the tunnel community and local authorities to prevent the impacts of the project, noting that it was huge and complex thus the need to ensure that there is both market capacity and capability to build the tunnels.

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