Government MPs back court on Mt Roskill motorway

By AUDREY YOUNG political editor

There is no political will among Auckland Government MPs to stop a proposed motorway cutting into the north face of Mt Roskill.

Local MP and Foreign Minister Phil Goff said Mt Roskill had already been damaged by man-made structures, and not a single elector had raised it as a concern with him.

Judith Tizard, the Minister assisting the Prime Minister on Auckland issues, said although she had sympathy for those who wanted the motorway shifted, they were not working in the interests of Auckland.

The Auckland Volcanic Cones Society chairman, John Street, said he would meet the group's lawyer tomorrow to decide whether there were sufficient grounds to continue legal action to the Court of Appeal.

It lost an appeal in the High Court last month seeking to overturn an Environment Court decision giving State Highway 20 the go-ahead.

The society has argued that the road could avoid hitting the mountain if it were moved 40m to the north, although 14 houses and a retirement home would have to go.

Mr Goff said it would be desirable to avoid cutting into the cone, but that would have cost further residents housing.

"Sadly Puketapapa [Mt Roskill] has suffered in the past. The crater has been filled with a reservoir. There is a road been put up it. It has already suffered from the man-made features carved into it," Mr Goff said.

"I have to say that I have not had one letter or one telephone call from residents within the electorate on the issues."

Mr Goff said he had raised the matter with Transit New Zealand on behalf of the Volcanic Cone Society, but he now accepted the decision of the Environment Court.

Judith Tizard said: "I think that they are really acting against the interests of Auckland in this case.

"Everyone in Auckland knows that State Highway 20 needs to be finished and it's always a trade-off. I think Transit have behaved very responsibly. They have made provision over a long time with the local community and they have been upheld in the Environment Court and I really would love to get on with the road."



Prime Minister Helen Clark has previously offered no view on the matter, referring questions to Mr Goff. But Mr Street said he was surprised, because the society had sent her many letters on the issue.

Mt Roskill's being damaged already was "no excuse to hack a great hunk of it away".

"That just compounds the problem. They are just conveniently ignoring it because of the huge pressure of the traffic problems in Auckland.

"They don't want to be seen holding the thing up."

The Auckland district plan and strategic plan said the volcanic cones were major icons and had to be protected.

"We've cut half of them to pieces already. We say enough is enough."