Holiday highway access has historic town revolting

Looking north at the end off the toll road towards the village of Puhoi. Photo / Paul Estcourt

The little town of Puhoi first learned of what residents consider its death sentence two months ago.

"No off-ramp for Puhoi", read the innocuous headline on a brief story buried in this newspaper.

No bad thing, you might suspect for the settlement nestled beside the muddy tidal river that curls lazily through the village, 45km north of Auckland and a minute off the highway. Why should the historic settlement be so agitated about connecting to a shiny $1.65 billion new motorway pushing past the end of the road?

"Because we'll die otherwise," comes the response from store owner Nick Lodewyks.

"If we don't have an off-ramp, I'm going."

Without a connection to the motorway, people driving south to Auckland will be required to follow the old State Highway 1 route through Waiwera and built-up Orewa, adding 16km and a fair bit of time to their journey.

This is the diversion that the tolled motorway from Orewa to the Johnstones Hill tunnels replaced.

So for Puhoi's 1300 residents, and the communities of Ahuroa and Mahurangi West 15km or so up the road, the motorway project means back to the future.

Mr Lodewyks reckons he speaks for a whopping majority of locals who would consider leaving their sleepy little town.

"Look, we love Puhoi and we've put money into the store, and the place in the time we've been here [15 years] has become vibrant. But if they cut us off we won't have a choice."

"They" means the Transport Agency, or NZTA, which appears widely loathed in the community.

The agency expects to complete the 38km "road of national significance" from Puhoi to Wellsford by 2022. Planning for the first stage as far as Warkworth is steaming along, with an unpublicised route being mapped out and consultation underway. Transport officials insist the community engagement is open and transparent, but many residents worry the agency already has its mind made up and doesn't want an interchange, which could cost between $15 million at $60 million for a gilt-edged connection.

Becky Rowsell, who is part of a group co-ordinating Puhoi's response to the project, says she has concerns about NZTA's approach.

"Is it a true consultation? It would have been nice if they included a question for us about access. But because it wasn't there, you start to wonder ..."

Ms Rowsell, who is back living in Puhoi after legal policy work in Australia and London, was first out of the blocks when the "no ramps" story surfaced. She photocopied the article and popped it in 230 mail boxes in the town store.

"I wanted people to be aware, to exercise their democratic rights. I very much favour access but we want people to have their say."

Last month, dozens filled the Puhoi community hall to hear agency planners explain that the lack of access was all about insulating Puhoi from growth. Cost wasn't a big issue, they heard, it was about retaining the scale of the village and preventing it being swamped by sprawl.

Rodney District Council and the Auckland Regional Council agree with the case for access, and accept the Super City is not going to overwhelm the hamlet, which Bohemian migrants carved out of the bush 147 years ago.

Tommy Parker, the NZTA regional highways manager, said it was "useful" that two key local authorities had backed Puhoi and its fight for access.

"No decisions have been made. We [NZTA] don't have a position. We have gone out for initial consultation and sought feedback."

One position the NZTA will not budge on is the need for the road, which critics label the "holiday highway" because it could ease gridlock during long weekends.

Estimates as high as $2 billion make a pricey strip of bitumen, and the ARC transport committee doesn't believe it's worth the investment.

The Campaign for Better Transport has concluded that almost half the benefits such as journey time savings could be achieved for 20 per cent of the Government's budget. The lobby group argues that by spending $160 million to $320 million on bypasses and upgrades, the country's 10th deadliest road - it claimed 41 lives in the past decade - would be a lot safer and faster to drive.

But Mr Parker says the project is proceeding: "The motorway is funded as one of the roads of national significance within the state highway programme. We are pushing ahead on that basis."

Heavyweights have joined the fray. National member of Parliament Lockwood Smith has put his life on the line for a couple of ramps.

Dr Smith, the district's MP for 26 years, says further consultation is unnecessary because access for Puhoi and Mahurangi West communities "simply must happen. You can shoot me if I'm wrong on this."

Food giant Goodman Fielder employs 75 people at Puhoi Valley Cheese and has told highway engineers their plan "lacks logic".

Corporate affairs manager Ian Greenshields said from Melbourne that his company was worried its milk tankers, fuel trucks, chemical loads and waste containers could be forced to detour past resthomes, schools and residential areas in Orewa.

The award-winning cheese company calculates that 10 per cent of 37,000 vehicle movements a year serving its factory are heavy trucks. That could mean at least 50 big rigs a week through newly upgraded pedestrian- friendly Orewa.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce says it's an open question on the final number of interchanges and where they are. "I've never yet seen an engineer who starts with too many interchanges."