Township upgrades or city cycle and walkway?

An aerial view of the Taruheru River, where an extension to the existing shared path is currently on hold. The council is yet to decide which projects it will reallocate funds to. Picture by Ben Cowper.

Gisborne district councillors have spoken strongly in favour of boosting township upgrades at the expense of a shared path extension in the city.

At a full council meeting on Thursday, a council staff update on Three Waters Better Off Funding projects was brought to the table, with a particular focus on the paused Taruheru walk and cycleway project.

The council received $7.2 million from the Government last November to support six projects, including $1.4m for adding to the main Taruheru River path.

The report said because of Cyclone Gabrielle and the shared path being “vastly underscoped” at $7.4 million, the addition to the path was on hold.

There is now an opportunity for the money to  be put towards other projects that meet the funding criteria, the report said.

Councillor Andy Cranston began the debate on Thursday by standing to give an impassioned speech in favour of the money staying with the shared path.

Cr Cranston said he understood the issues facing townships but money was already being put aside to enhance them into the future.

The next stage of the cycle and walkway was straightforward and would go a long way to boosting tourism and accessibility to areas such as the Botanical Gardens.

In response, Rawinia Parata said she also had feelings about how the money should be used because amounts that weren’t a lot to the city went a long way in small communities.

“We need to start thinking about equity and how much equity has made its way into townships,” Cr Parata said.

“Five hundred thousand dollars per year for township upgrades every so often is just not enough.

“You can tell when you drive through these communities. You can tell when you see footpaths that are broken. You can tell when there are no footpaths.

“It’s about saying that the whole region is important, not just the city.”

Aubrey Ria said regular maintenance and upkeep in townships had not happened and that the Taruheru path remained in the council’s Long-Term Plan regardless of whether it received Better Off funding.

Larry Foster said funding for rural communities was a “no-brainer”, adding more people were calling those areas home.

“I know rural communities are crying out for footpaths and crossings and some financial support to help their communities thrive and flourish,” he said.

Deputy Mayor Josh Wharehinga also backed putting the money towards community upgrades.

It was the right way to distribute the funds, he said.

“The comparison is that the town has lots of that infrastructure. These townships have none and it behoves us to provide it equitably across our region.”

A final decision on the funding will be made by the council’s finance and performance (whakahaere pūtea me ōna hua) committee.

The council was originally allocated $28.8m from the Better Off support package but only received the first portion of $7.2m before the Three Waters reforms were rebranded — a move which dissolved the funding.

Potential  township projects which could get the go-ahead include $250,000 for footpath extensions and crossings in Ruatoria; $214,000 for footpath and pedestrian crossings in Wharekahika; and $170,000 for footpaths in Muriwai.

The preferred project substitution noted in the council report was the Aberdeen Rd shared path in the city. The council was looking to separate the walk and cycleway, similar to that on Crawford Road.