A high level proposal for regional transport - to the tune of $1.78 billion - has been agreed to by the Otago and Southland Regional Transport Committee (OSRTC).

The joint transport funding bid by Otago and Southland will go before Otago Regional Council (ORC) and Environment Southland next month before being lodged with NZ Transport Agency/Waka Kotahi.

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) deputy mayor Quentin Smith is the QLDC representative on the OSRTC.

“This is us putting our stake in the ground on what we think we need,” Quentin told the Wānaka App.

The proposal includes road safety improvements and capital projects the council hopes to receive government funding for, he said, including “network optimisation” for Lake Hāwea, a business case for the formation of Capell Avenue, and other local road improvement projects.

The plan is “high level” and has been backed up by strategic planning, Quentin said.

“We’re dictated in part by the government policy statement on transport, which is shifting under the new government.”

There is a “big focus from the new government on maintenance”, such as fixing potholes, and a “shift away from active travel”, he said.

Quentin said the process underway is the traditional and primary mechanism for the councils to apply for funding from the National Land Transport Fund (which is funded from fuel excise duty).

Different territorial authorities submit their priorities, which are filtered through to a regional programme, and so on, Quentin said.

Public transport is not generally covered by the fuel excise duty and therefore isn’t part of this process, he said.

Otago and Southland are collectively seeking a total $1.78B in funding from NZTA’s State Highway improvement programme, for their respective 2024-2027 programmes of activities: $1.26B for Otago and $495M for Southland.

Regional transport committees will now recommend the plan to their respective councils for approval and then submit it to the NZTA. ORC will consider the plan at a full council meeting in Cromwell next month. 

The final submission date to NZTA is July 31.

PHOTO: Wānaka App