Regional Transport Committee
Minutes - 1 July 2019
Present: Councillor
M Rutledge (Chairperson), Her Worship the Mayor R Reese, Councillors P
Matheson, G Noonan (Deputy Chairperson) and Mr Harland (NZTA Representative)
In
Attendance: Councillors I Barker, M Lawrey, B McGurk
and S Walker, Chief Executive (P Dougherty), Group Manager Infrastructure (A
Louverdis), and Governance Adviser (E Stephenson)
Apologies : Her
Worship the Mayor for lateness
1. Apologies
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Resolved RTC/2019/013
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That the Regional
Transport Committee
1. Receives
and accepts the apology from Her Worship the Mayor for lateness.
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Noonan/Matheson Carried
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2. Confirmation of
Order of Business
There was no change to the order
of business
3. Interests
There were no updates to the
Interests Register, and no interests with items on the agenda were declared.
4. Public Forum
4.1 Nelsust
- What should Nelson's Regional Transport look like in a Climate Emergency?
Peter
Olorenshaw, Convenor for Nelsust, provided a presentation and spoke about the
significance of transport emissions in New Zealand, and what could be done to
reduce them. He said that he would like to see RTC representatives on the
Nelson Plan working group and more options for commuters and clearway lanes for
road transport and buses. He advocated for the use of electric vehicles and
reducing the attraction of car commuting. Mr Olorenshaw answered questions
regarding his presentation.
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Attachments
1 A2217831 - Peter
Olerenshaw PowerPoint presentation
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Attendance: Her Worship the
Mayor entered the meeting at 1.39p.m.
5. Chairperson's Report (Agenda
Item 6)
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The Chairperson gave an oral
report. He acknowledged the current upheaval at the New Zealand Transport
Agency (NZTA) and the work undertaken on Council’s behalf, particularly
on keeping the Nelson Future Access project moving forward and progressing the
Atawhai Speed Review Programme. Topics he covered included the smooth rollout
of the Waimea Road speed reduction and that it was good to see clarity on the
Future Access Project.
He
expressed disappointment on the Targeted Enhanced Funding Assistance Rate
(TEFAR) programme roll out, noting that Council had now been told that there
would not be any more funding from that programme. He felt that the programme
had resulted in a huge amount of work for Council to put up projects aligning
with the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS) to attract TEFAR
funding, which had also set community expectations regarding projects that
would be progressing, for example, the Whakatū to Atawhai noise
reduction resurfacing programme.
He
voiced concern, in the light of another fuel tax increase and increasing road
user charges, at seeing more and more money taken out of Nelson and not
seeing the same level of investment necessary to keep it moving forward. He
felt that rural and provincial New Zealand’s transport safety, access
and liveability needs should not be sacrificed for major projects in Auckland
and Wellington.
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Resolved RTC/2019/014
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That the Regional Transport Committee
1. Receives
the Chairperson’s oral report.
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Her Worship the Mayor/Matheson Carried
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In response to a question regarding the effects of the
changed speed limit on Waimea Road, Group Manager Infrastructure, Alec
Louverdis, said that officers would report back at a suitable time, but that it
was still too early to extract meaningful data.
6. Confirmation of
Minutes (Agenda Item 5)
6.1 15
April 2019
Document number M4160, agenda
pages 8 - 16 refer.
A minor correction to the minutes
on agenda page 11 was noted.
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Resolved RTC/2019/015
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That the Regional
Transport Committee
1. Confirms the minutes of the
meeting of the Regional Transport Committee, held on 15 April 2019, as a true
and correct record.
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Matheson/Her Worship the Mayor
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7. New Zealand
Transport Agency Update - Atawhai Speed Review and other matters
Document number R9903, agenda
pages 17 - 21 refer.
The meeting was adjourned at
2.01p.m. and reconvened at 2.02p.m.
Jim Harland, NZTA, thanked Council for its support
during this challenging time. A printed PowerPoint presentation was tabled.
Topics in the update included:
· National Land
Transport Plan (NLTP) funding
· The NZTA’s
10 year plan (Arataki – Our Plan for the Land Transport System), and its
inputs into the next NLTP
· The NZTA
Investment Decision-Making framework
· Ratings and the
shift in emphasis to safety, place making, access, environment and value for
money
· Technical
workshops to develop a draft framework which would provide guidance on business
cases
· Speed management
was a top priority, focusing on safety for users of footpaths and roadways
· Speed review
decisions, targeting the top 10% of areas at risk
· Innovating streets
for people, the need to recognise liveable places when planning networks.
Mr Harland answered questions
regarding alignment between the NLTP and Regional Land Transport Plans (RLTP)
and speed management, in particular relating to cost effectiveness.
In response to a question
regarding how quickly they could start looking at implementation costs and
engineering solutions for innovating streets for people, and the possibility of
a trial for willing residents, Steve Higgs, NZTA, offered to find out what was
intended under that programme and report back to the next Committee meeting.
Further discussion took place regarding
10 year plans and changes in government, discretionary funding, changes as a
result of three year reviews, the economic cost of speed management to the
region and prioritisation of the Atawhai section of the Nelson to Blenheim
corridor improvements.
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Resolved RTC/2019/016
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That
the Regional Transport Committee
1. Receives the report New Zealand Transport
Agency Update - Atawhai Speed Review and other matters (R9903) and its attachment (A2210105).
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Noonan/Matheson Carried
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Attachments
1 A2219375 - NZTA
Update Presentation
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8. Update on South
Island Visitor Flows Project
Document number R10192, agenda
pages 22 - 23 refer.
Manager Transport and Solid
Waste, Marg Parfitt, spoke to the report. She advised that the Committee would
be kept updated regarding progress.
Steve Higgs, NZTA, answered
questions regarding the project, including data sources, a reliable source of
truth, effects of visitor numbers on infrastructure and the next stage of the
project.
In response to a question
regarding the policy of the RTC South Island Chairs Group, the Chairperson
advised that he had only been to one meeting where this was discussed. He
advised that the South Island Freight Project had just been received and that
he would update the Committee at the next meeting.
The benefit of the region having
the right data to build into business cases was highlighted and in terms of the
desire for tourist dispersal over the South Island, the need to ensure that the
region had the draw cards to encourage tourists here. It was emphasised that
the trends for reduction in air travel and increase in land travel meant that
reliable visitor flow information would be very helpful in building a tourism
strategy.
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Resolved RTC/2019/017
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That
the Regional Transport Committee
1. Receives
the report Update on South Island Visitor Flows Project (R10192).
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Rutledge/Her Worship the Mayor Carried
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9. Submission to
Ministry of Transport Government Policy Statement 2018 : Revised draft measures
Document number R10207, agenda
pages 24 - 31 refer.
Manager Transport and Solid
Waste, Marg Parfitt, noted that this was a procedural matter to retrospectively
approve the submission that had been sent to the Ministry of Transport (MoT).
Ms Parfitt noted that the Ministry of Transport had acknowledged the
submission.
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Resolved RTC/2019/018
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That
the Regional Transport Committee
1. Receives
the report Submission to Ministry of Transport Government Policy Statement
2018 : Revised draft measures (R10207)
and its attachment (A2187966); and
2. Approves
retrospectively the submission from the Regional Transport Committee Chairperson
to the Ministry of Transport (A2197966 to report R10207).
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Matheson/Her Worship the Mayor Carried
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Councillor Noonan abstained, as she felt she had not
received enough information to make a decision.
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The meeting was adjourned at
3.01p.m. and reconvened at 3.09p.m.
10. Nelson Future Access Update
Document number R10225, agenda
pages 32 - 38 refer.
Rhys Palmer and Coral Aldridge,
NZTA, spoke to the report and answered questions regarding the Investment Logic
Map (ILM), the membership of the Project Reference Group and public engagement.
Mr Palmer answered questions
regarding the Rocks Road Walking and Cycling project, noting that a decision to
push the project out had been made by the NZTA after a recommendation by the
Steering Group. Discussion took place on the state of the sea wall, the
difficult consenting environment and progression of the business case.
Frustration was expressed by members at the revised programme. A request was
made for better engagement with the political side of council on changes of
that magnitude.
Her Worship the Mayor raised a
Point of Order against Councillor Barker regarding a comment that the climate
change emergency had been declared at the request of the Government. The Point
of Order was upheld by the Chairperson and Councillor Barker withdrew the
comment and apologised.
Further discussion took place
regarding the need to ensure a credible set of options to get the best chance
of funding on a national basis.
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Resolved RTC/2019/019
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That
the Regional Transport Committee
1. Receives
the report Nelson Future Access Update (R10225) and its attachment (A2214088).
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Her Worship the Mayor/Rutledge Carried
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11. 2017/18 Annual Monitoring
Report on the Regional Land Transport Plan 2015-2021
Document number R10262, agenda
pages 39 - 61 refer.
Attendance: Her Worship the
Mayor Reese left the meeting at 4.12p.m.
Manager Transport and Solid
Waste, Marg Parfitt, answered questions regarding the monitoring report,
including, HPMV routes, setting of targets, cycling and walking counts and
availability of data.
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Resolved RTC/2019/020
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That
the Regional Transport Committee
1. Receives
the report 2017/18 Annual Monitoring Report on the Regional Land Transport
Plan 2015-2021 (R10262) and its
attachment (A2015759)
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Noonan/Harland Carried
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12. Regional Land Transport Plan
variation - Nelson State Highway Speed Management Guide Implementation
Document number R10295, agenda
pages 62 - 69 refer.
Steve Higgs and Jeanine Foster,
NZTA, spoke to the report and answered questions regarding the request to vary
the Nelson RLTP 2018-21.
Attendance: Her Worship the
Mayor returned to the meeting at 4.25p.m.
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Resolved RTC/2019/021
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That
the Regional Transport Committee
1. Receives
the report Regional Land Transport Plan variation - Nelson State Highway
Speed Management Guide Implementation (R10295) and its attachment (A2209766)
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Noonan/Harland Carried
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Recommendation to Council RTC/2019/022
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That the Council
1. Approves
that the Nelson Regional Land Transport Programme 2015-21 is varied to
include a total of $1.26M for Nelson State Highway Speed Management Guide
Implementation over 2018-2021 with a 100% Funding Assistance Rate
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Noonan/Harland Carried
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13. Exclusion
of the Public
Steve Higgs, of The New Zealand
Transport Agency, was in attendance for Item 2 of the Public Excluded agenda -
Public Transport Contract – supplementary report, to answer questions
and, accordingly, the following resolution was required to be passed:
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Resolved RTC/2019/023
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That the Regional
Transport Committee
1. Confirms,
in accordance with sections 48(5) and 48(6) of the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987, that Steve Higgs of the New Zealand
Transport Agency remain after the public has been excluded, for Item 2 of the
Public Excluded agenda (Public Transport Contract – supplementary
report), as he has knowledge relating to the matter that will assist the
meeting.
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Matheson/Noonan Carried
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Resolved RTC/2019/024
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That the Regional Transport Committee
1. Excludes
the public from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting.
2. The
general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded,
the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter and the
specific grounds under section 48(1) of the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as
follows:
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Matheson/Noonan Carried
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Item
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General subject of each matter to be
considered
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Reason for passing this resolution in
relation to each matter
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Particular interests protected (where
applicable)
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1
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Regional Transport Committee Meeting - Public
Excluded Minutes - 15 April 2019
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Section 48(1)(a)
The public conduct of this matter would be likely to
result in disclosure of information for which good reason exists under
section 7.
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The withholding of the information is necessary:
· Section 7(2)(b)(ii)
To protect information
where the making available of the information would be likely unreasonably to
prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or who is the
subject of the information
· Section
7(2)(h)
To enable the
local authority to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial
activities
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2
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Public Transport Contract - supplementary report
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Section 48(1)(a)
The public conduct of this
matter would be likely to result in disclosure of information for which good
reason exists under section 7
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The withholding of the information is necessary:
· Section 7(2)(b)(ii)
To protect information
where the making available of the information would be likely unreasonably to
prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or who is the
subject of the information
· Section
7(2)(i)
To enable the local
authority to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations
(including commercial and industrial negotiations)
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The meeting went into public excluded session at 4.31p.m.
and resumed in public session at 4.35p.m.
There being no further business the meeting ended at 4.35p.m.
Confirmed as a correct record of proceedings:
Chairperson
Date
Regional Transport Committee
