Andrew Austin, editor of Hawke's Bay Today.
It has been a common complaint over the years that sometimes projects involving government departments seem to take an awfully long time to come to fruition.
Some would even suggest the Government tends to focus its attention on areas where it may get the most votes in return for infrastructure,
like roads, being built.
A story in Saturday's Hawke's Bay Today Weekend and a video by NZ Herald Local Focus on our website highlighted the frustrating wait locals near Lake Waikaremoana have had for State Highway 38 to be sealed.
It seems as if it has been promised for years and yet they are still waiting. Wairoa mayor Craig Little and his predecessor Les Probert have been vocal in appealing for the road to be upgraded, but it has been low priority in the National Land Transport Programme.
The compelling argument is that surely we should make it easy for tourists to visit such spectacular places of natural beauty as Lake Waikaremoana and Te Urewera National Park. Mr Little says the road is a barrier to tourism because of its shingle nature and some car rental companies will not offer insurance for it, forbidding travel.
