Minister's promise now in doubt

NO GO: A slip on Pupuke Mangapa Road, near Whangaroa, just one of hundreds triggered by winter storms around the Far North.

The government appears to be backing away from a pre-election pledge to cover at least 90 per cent of the repair bill for road damage inflicted by winter storms in the Far North.

The most destructive storms since 2007 left the district almost entirely cut off from the rest of the country, leading to shortages of fuel and basic food, and triggered 392 slips on local roads.

Then Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee was quick to reassure Far North residents that they would not be burdened by the repair bill; if the damage was severe enough, the government would pick up more than 90 per cent of the cost through the NZ Transport Agency's emergency works fund. The 90-plus per cent figure was later confirmed by Mr Brownlee's office.

However, the amount to be paid out for storm repairs now appears unlikely to reach $10 million, about 25 per cent of the sum the Far North District Council says is needed to restore roads to their pre-storm condition.

That could see Far North ratepayers, who already pay Northland's highest rates, picking up the rest of the tab, although the more likely scenario is that only the most urgent repairs will be attended to, leaving many roads in a worse state than they were in before the storms.

According to a report presented to Thursday's Far North District Council meeting in Kaikohe, the initial estimate for fixing storm-damaged Far North roads was $27,280,000, but that had since risen to close to $40 million. So far the NZTA has approved $5 million for slip repairs, with $1.2 million pending. Another $1.5 million has been approved to cover the initial response.

An email from the NZTA warned the council against assuming that reinstatement would be to the roads' original condition. Instead the agency was taking a "risk-management approach" that shared the risks of not carrying out full repairs with the council.

Northland MP Mike Sabin said the NZTA's response was not his understanding of the government's commitment. He also expressed surprise that the council had not contacted him.

"I'll be following it up with the Minister and the NZTA," he said. Mayor John Carter said he was in discussions with government ministers.

A spokesman for Mr Brownlee's office said last week that he would not comment because he was no longer Minister of Transport, and referred questions to new Transport Minister Simon Bridges. Mr Bridges' office referred questions to the NZTA, which could not be contacted on Friday.

Meanwhile district councillors instructed chief executive Colin Dale to write to the NZTA, seeking clarification of the storm damage subsidy, whether roads would be restored to their pre-storm condition, and who would be liable if an unrepaired road caused an accident. They also instructed Mr Carter to take up the issue with central government.

The council report showed the NZTA would cover only 50 per cent of the cost of repairing the 49 most serious slips, leaving a shortfall of about $5 million. It would pay just over a third of the cost of repairing the 92 next most serious slips. Claims for the remaining 251 slips had yet to be lodged.

The NZTA pays for repairs to state highways from a separate fund, so Northland ratepayers don't have to cover major slips on SH1 and SH14.

A July 16 press release in which Mr Brownlee raised the 90 per cent figure is no longer available on the National Party website. It is, however, still available via other sites.