Waitomo District Council
Roads, water and infrastructure projects dominated the agenda for the first full meeting of the Waitomo District Council last week.
John Robertson
Mayor, John Robertson said the first post-election meetings with briefings on the activities of the council was productive.
Improving Waitomo’s roads will be a major project for the new council, which received an extensive briefing from the New Zealand Transport Agency on how work on local roads and state highways were expected to proceed.
While improvements are needed, repairs to road damage sustained during storms in July and October are vital, Robertson said.
“We’ve had millions of dollars of storm damage in the last couple of months – the cost will be $5–10 million but I would anticipate it will be closer to the $10 million mark,” he said.
“The relationship between council and NZTA is really important because they fund about 75 per cent of all the work we do on roads.”
Although most roads became operational again reasonably soon after the storms, lasting damage is extensive and needs to be repaired.
“We’ve been working through it road by road and we have some that are still closed. Kōpaki Road for example – at this stage, we don’t know what the solution is there, but I would say it would cost several million dollars to repair it alone.”
Another major task for the council was discussed largely behind closed doors. However, details regarding the transfer to the new Waikato Waters organisation will be made public soon enough, Robertson said.
“We’re looking at legal agreements, identifying assets that will be transferred and their value, as well as debt to be transferred, how staff will move from councils to the water organisation, things like that.
“It’s a step-by-step process that we all need to work through. I would expect to move from a draft agreement to final documents, which will become available to the public, early next year.”
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- Olivia Buckley
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- Janette Osborne
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- Isaiah Wallace
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- Eady Manawaiti
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- Dan Tasker
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- Allan Goddard
Among Robertson’s key strategic priorities for the new term is a new industrial park. Should it take off, he expects it will bring more businesses and jobs to the town.
“Te Kūiti’s full up in terms of industry, so we need land. We put in an application a couple of years ago for money from the Regional Infrastructure Fund. It’s now just a matter of convincing government to invest in our district.”
The approximately 8–10 hectare site proposed for the park is between Te Kūiti Aerodrome and State Highway 3.
“It’s an excellent location, but it’s also an area that floods, so the land would need to be raised. Some of the Geotech work has been done already. If we can get funding, we should be doing the groundwork over the next two or three years.”
Council is also laying the foundations for a partnership with the University of Waikato’s new medical school. Approved earlier this year, the school is expected to place students at regional hospitals.
“The university is already seeking interest from hospitals so we’re engaged with them to ensure Te Kūiti Hospital becomes one of the places where this clinical training will take place,” Robertson said.
The school won’t be up and running until 2028 but some decisions will need to be made soon.
“The school will require that the hospital has certain facilities and supervision in place, so there’s quite a process to go through in order to make this happen in time.”
The next council meeting is scheduled for February, however another may be held before Christmas if warranted.
