Two roads set to get dust reduction

Whangarei District Council will fund road sealing of Wright and McCardle roads under its newly adopted Road Dust Management Programme.

Whangarei District Council (WDC) has agreed to fund $610,000 to seal parts of two dust-polluted rural roads as part of a new five-point plan to battle the issue across the district.

The council has adopted the new Road Dust Management Programme, which focuses on a number of actions aimed at eradicating the problem from the wider district.

The plan also contains a commitment to apply for more NZ Transport Authority (NZTA) funding to seal another 1.5 kilometres, and a final 2.5km section of Wright and McCardle roads, northwest of Whangarei, through a "closing the gap" 2018/19 application.

At Thursday's full council meeting, councillors agreed to the action plan, which featured short-term initiatives such as the provision of water carts by Hancock Forestry Managers to dampen affected roads until a dust suppression programme was developed.

The Dust Monitoring Programme would continue to investigate the roading networks as a public health matter.

Sealing roads would cost up to $400,000 per kilometre, while dust suppression would cost up to $20,000 per kilometre.

However, both options were considered unaffordable for councils.

The NZTA had recently approved funding for WDC to seal 2.52km of the Wright/McCardle logging route at an estimated cost of $1.3 million, with $50,000 coming from the 2016/17 year for investigations and fees and $1,250,000 in 2017/18 for physical works.

The 53 per cent NZTA subsidy of $690,000 would now be matched by WDC's $610,000.

The road would be sealed where it passed occupied houses, not its entire length and construction was due to start in September or October.

Under the Long Term Dust Management Control Programme, WDC had identified a further 35 unsealed logging routes throughout the district.

There are 100 sites earmarked for future sealing.

An additional road maintenance funding application under the NZTA's new Dust Management policy was being developed in the draft annual plan for 2017/18 and would ask the Government for an increase of $500,000 per annum.

WDC would fund its share of $235,000, to address the issue.

Speaking through the public forum at the beginning of Thursday's meeting, Pipiwai Titoki Road Action Group spokeswoman Alex Wright said a camera set up in a tree on the stretch of dusty road counted 120 truck movements in two 24-hour periods.

Ms Wright said she had been lobbying for 17 years for the dust problem to be fixed and wanted no more excuses.