A government review of roading subsidies could cost Wanganui millions and damage the region's rural productivity.
District councillor and rural community board member Hamish McDouall is sounding the alarm bells over a review of the Funding Assistance Rates, a system which subsidises local authority work and maintenance to roads, including rural and suburban roads.
Mr McDouall said Wanganui spent millions of dollars on roads each year but this was alleviated by the subsidies. The review by the New Zealand Transport Agency could cost the region dearly - both in lost subsidies and damage to the rural sector.
While many councils throughout the country, including Wanganui, made submissions to the review, the Wanganui board was the only community board to do so. An economic analysis in 2011 of the Wanganui region showed the primary sector's gross domestic product was worth more than $400 million - 20 per cent of the area's total GDP.
Mr McDouall said industries such as sheep, beef and forestry relied on rural roads, many of which were unsealed, to access markets. A reduction in services on these roads could threaten their future.