Govt grants $43.7m to Hamilton for 40 projects to reduce city’s transport emissions

The projects will help reduce emissions and increase Hamilton's overall liveability and wellbeing. Photo / Hamilton City Council

Hamilton will receive more than $43 million of additional climate funding from the central government to spend on projects aimed at reducing the city’s transport emissions.

On Sunday, December 4, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency announced Hamilton City Council will receive a one-off grant of $43.73m to fund the Transport Choices programme, to help the city reduce transport emissions through mode shift to active and public transport options.

The grant will fund a range of projects across strategic biking and micromobility, walkable neighbourhoods, public transport, and healthy school travel.

Deputy mayor and chairwoman of the Infrastructure and Transport Committee, Angela O’Leary, is pleased to see government support for Hamilton City Council’s transport objectives.

“Hamilton City Council’s transport strategy, Access Hamilton: Ara Kootuitui Kirikiriroa, sets the vision for the future of transport in Hamilton and its guiding principles directly focusing on travel choices, emission reductions, reduced reliance on private vehicles, and inclusivity,” said O’Leary.

“The projects being funded by the Transport Choices Package will help deliver those significant mode shifts in Hamilton, helping us reduce emissions and increase our city’s overall liveability and wellbeing.

“It’s fantastic to see our transport strategy and our climate change strategy align with the overall direction in which New Zealand is heading, and we’re very proud to be leaders in this space.”

The council’s public transport and urban mobility manager, Martin Parkes, was also pleased to see the funding approved.

“Hamilton City Council is fully committed to putting in place infrastructure and initiatives that provide our residents and visitors with transport choices,” said Parkes.

“As a growing city, the environmental impacts of our transport system will become significantly worse in the not-too-distant future unless we ‘build for change’ now – and this funding will help us deliver for our ratepayers at a pace and scale beyond what we’d normally be able to.”

Transport Choices funding is currently indicative until Waka Kotahi works with councils to explore how projects can be progressed in line with Transport Choices timeframes. Funding allocations may be adjusted after this consultation.

The funding will help deliver on the council’s climate change strategy, Our Climate Future: Te Pae Tawhiti o Kirikiriroa. Hamilton aims to reduce its overall emissions by at least 30 per cent by 2030, which includes transport as well as other emissions sources such as industry and business, waste, homes, and agriculture.

In May 2022, the Government released its first Emissions Reduction Plan, Tu hau maarohi ki anamata, which calls for a 41 per cent reduction in transport emissions by 2035. Transport in Hamilton currently makes up about 64 per cent of the city’s total emissions.

Alongside 46 other councils across New Zealand, Hamilton City Council applied to the $350m Waka Kotahi Transport Choices Package to fund over 40 projects, all focused on reducing emissions through moving people around our city in a more sustainable way. A number of these projects are already supported by Waka Kotahi, as they have been allocated part-funding by both the agency and council.

The projects now covered under this funding will go through public consultation and preliminary design in early 2023, with construction starting from mid-2023 and finishing in mid-2024.