Dust cloud hangs over funding to seal rural roads

A logging truck drags dust along Wright Rd, where residents are still living in dangerous conditions despite council strip-sealing the road.

Another funding application has been made to seal roads at Pipiwai where residents are living under dangerous dust clouds.

The Whangarei District Council will put in another funding application to the NZ Transport Agency, asking for 53 per cent of the $3.6 million needed to complete the seal of the rural roads, subject to heavy logging truck traffic and dangerous dust levels.

Councillor Sharon Morgan, who has been working with the people who live on Wright and McCardle roads for several years, acknowledged it's a line residents are "sick of hearing".

Pipiwai dusty roads campaigner Alex Wright agrees - she's been lobbying the council for 12 years - and said the fact the council had to abandon a grade of the road recently because it was too dusty and unsafe showed how ridiculous the situation had become.

"I'm making inquiries for what we can do in terms of a court injunction [to stop trucks]," Ms Wright said.

Residents staged a roadblock last week - their fourth in as many years - to protest the problem caused by up to 100 logging trucks which trundle past their properties each day.

Results from air quality monitoring on Wright Rd showed $532,000 of strip sealing in front of houses which WDC carried out last year had not worked.

Dust monitoring between February and March showed 11 exceedances of particulate matter 10 micrometres in diameter or less (PM10) - the standard used in national air quality standards. Legally, only one exceedance per calendar year was allowed. PM10 matter was a group 1 carcinogen, based on the increased risk of lung cancer.

"When you are living in a polluted environment the councils and the Government have the responsibility to obey the law," Ms Wright said.

About 3 kilometres of the road remained unsealed, and Ms Morgan said the council continued to lobby NZTA "at every opportunity - but we won't be the only council doing so", she said.

"If the Government steps up and funds [Pipiwai], it will have a deluge from elsewhere in the country," she said.

WDC contractors Fulton Hogan tried to grade the road at the start of December, but had to stop because it was too dry and dusty. Rain meant they were able to resume the job about a week later.

The roads were graded once a month as part of routine maintenance, and were wet-rolled twice during drier months.

The council expected to hear back from NZTA in March.