... the council simply can't do everything asked of it. Expensive roading issues were to the fore during the recent long-term plan consultation, especially for the residents of the Mangaehu Road area.
There is no easy solution. The council has to maintain the district's roads in an even-handed manner and has limited funding for this. In this context, the council simply can't do everything asked of it.
The Stratford District road network totals 597km of road, made up of 556km of rural road and 41km of urban streets. In addition, there are 700km of unformed "paper roads" and a number of bridges not maintained by the council. SH3 and SH43 are maintained by the New Zealand Transport Agency.
Maintenance and minor safety improvements are subsidised by external funding from NZTA at around 50 per cent, but the seal extension programme is not and is therefore a direct cost to ratepayers. About half of the council's total expenditure in any given year is on roading; this year's spend will be $9.1 million.
It makes sense to maintain what we have and keep appropriate service levels on all the district's roads. The long-term plan also includes provision for the seal extension programme and to upgrade roads to be used by logging trucks.