Whanganui District Council defers non-essential roading projects as budget pressure continues

The council has resurfaced 5.45 per cent (31.63 kilometres) of the district’s road network. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui District Council’s roading programme is operating on a shoestring budget as emergency works continue to chew through money.

A report from council transport manager Damien Wood said expenditure for the year was currently at $21.3 million, against an annual cost budget of $17.1m.

He told a Whanganui Rural Community Board meeting costs had “blown out” in terms of the budget for emergency works.

“Wherever possible, we’ve applied for as much funding as we can from Waka Kotahi [New Zealand Transport Agency], and the council has contributed its share of that.”

There were still significant projects that needed to be done, including the repair of Culvert 49 at Kauarapaoa Road and the riverbank dropouts on Somme Parade, Wood said.

Design costings for the Somme Pde project are currently being finalised, with construction work expected to commence in late August or early September.

Waka Kotahi will fund 60 per cent of the Somme Pde work, but it is still expected to run into the millions of dollars.

In April, the council approved an extra $1.72m in debt funding to cover roading costs until the end of the last financial year.

Council chief executive David Langford told the Chronicle that because of climate change and more severe weather, an increasing number of landslips and dropouts was “a real possibility and a real risk”.

“We do need to look at longer-term planning around our infrastructure and what the opportunities are for adaptation - can we build more resilient infrastructure? Can we pull away from known hazard areas to avoid these things happening?

“Obviously, that needs to be balanced with affordability. We can’t make an ironclad roading network that’s bulletproof because it’ll cost too much and our community can’t afford to pay for it.”

Wood’s report said services were currently being prioritised based on severity and consequence, and non-essential works were being deferred.

A recent footpath condition survey showed a large number of reasonably severe faults, he said.

It generated more than 12,000 identified faults in the network, ranging from severities three to five.

Severity five indicates the most significant condition issues.

Whanganui District Council chief executive David Langford. Photo / Bevan Conley

Wood is proposing an annual budget increase of $200,000 in the council’s Long Term Plan for footpath renewals.

That area of work is unsubsidised by Waka Kotahi, meaning funding would come through rates.

Langford said there were ongoing conversations with Waka Kotahi to make sure it was contributing funding.

“If a road gets washed out and there are residents disconnected, we don’t have much have much choice but to get in there and fix it for them.

“Sometimes, it’s prudent to act early and fix things before they get much more severe and much more expensive.”

Meanwhile, the council’s road resealing programme is now complete, resulting in 5.45 per cent (31.63 kilometres) of the district’s network being resurfaced.

Maintenance activities will resume in early spring, with pre-reseal repairs being the primary focus in urban and rural areas.

No upgrades or significant replacement programmes for street lights and traffic signals are planned for the next financial quarter.

According to Wood’s report, risks facing the roading programme include material and labour price increases, the availability of design personnel for detailed design work and increased compliance, consenting and regulatory costs.

Another risk is the maintenance budget allocation from Waka Kotahi and the council being sufficient to maintain current levels of service and to maintain the network at its present-day condition.

“If sufficient budget is not allocated, the condition of the network and levels of service will deteriorate.”

Forestry impact on sealed pavements on rural roads continued to result in very high sealed pavement repair costs, the report said.

“Longacre Rd is deteriorating rapidly, and [the] required budget to maintain a sealed pavement for just that road exceeds the annual maintenance budget allocated across the entire network.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.