Minutes of a meeting of the Regional Transport Committee

Held in the Council Chamber, Civic House, 110 Trafalgar Street, Nelson

On Wednesday 4 September 2019, commencing at 9.05a.m.

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, B Dahlberg and B McGurk, Chief Executive (P Dougherty), Group Manager Infrastructure (A Louverdis) and Governance Adviser (E Stephenson)

Apologies :          Nil

1.       Apologies

There were no apologies.

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

There was no public forum.

5.       Confirmation of Minutes

5.1      1 July 2019

Document number M4335, agenda pages 7 - 16 refer.

Resolved RTC/2019/028
	That the Regional Transport Committee 1.    Confirms the minutes of the meeting of the Regional Transport Committee, held on 1 July 2019, as a true and correct record.
Matheson/Harland Carried

6.       Chairperson's Report  

The Chairperson gave an oral report in which he thanked officers and acknowledged the Council’s response to the change in the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS), noting that it was testament to the skills and work ethic of Council staff to keep key projects on the books and funded by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA).

The Chairperson acknowledged Mr Jim Harland of the NZTA and noted his confidence in his strong voice for the South Island and Nelson. He  recognised the critical link between the Council and the NZTA.

He felt the GPS aligned well with how Council saw liveable communities, although he felt there was a disconnect with the GPS wording and where the funding lay.

He noted that there was a major difference between state highways across the country and the 50km state highways running through Nelson and felt the blanket approach was having an impact on our region and at odds with the wording in the GPS about liveable cities. He voiced his disappointment at having key projects cancelled or delayed due to lack of funding, and said that he felt that Nelson was not receiving its share of investment from the fuel tax and road user charges paid. He felt that addressing this would be an advocacy challenge for the incoming Council and its Regional Transport Committee.

The Chairperson noted that with respect to the state of the road surface on Rocks Road, that NZTA had advised that much needed maintenance work on the worst parts of Rocks Road towards Haven Road would be undertaken by Christmas, and that future work was conditional on funding. He noted that this was concerning.

In response to a question, Mr Jim Harland noted that, at a national level, there was more funding for state highway maintenance than before. He noted the challenges with the maintenance programme and said that he would follow up with staff regarding the programme and timing of the Rocks Road maintenance. The Chair requested a written response.

The Chairperson advised the meeting of a procedural motion recommended by officers regarding referral of a matter that had been left to lie on the table, to the incoming Council. Discussion took place regarding the need for the procedural motion.

The meeting was adjourned at 9.15a.m. and reconvened at 9.24a.m.

Team Leader Governance, Robyn Byrne, answered questions regarding the procedural motion.

The meeting was adjourned at 9.30a.m. and reconvened at 9.33a.m.

This procedural matter was considered during the public excluded session, as it related to a public excluded item.

           Attendance: Councillor Matheson left the meeting from 9.41a.m. until 9.44a.m.

Resolved RTC/2019/029
	That the Regional Transport Committee 1. Receives the Chairperson’s Report.
Matheson/Noonan Carried

7.       2018/19 Annual Monitoring Report on the Regional Transport Plan 2015-21

Document number R10299, agenda pages 17 - 45 refer.

Manager Transport and Solid Waste, Marg Parfitt, spoke to the report, including regarding changed regional indicators, trends, travel time variability, vehicle occupancy rates and safety indicators. Ms Parfitt clarified the definition of serious injury as one that involved a fracture, concussion, a severe cut or a hospital admission.

Ms Parfitt explained the lack of data for Quarters 2 and 3 was due to unreliable Bluetooth data and Rhys Palmer (NZTA) acknowledged that this was an issue with the NZTA contractor but that the issue had been addressed and that the gap had been filled with other data from Tom Tom and that the modelling for the NFA Project would be robust.

Ms Parfitt noted that weather events and crashes contributed to the unplanned disruptions on SH6.

Ms Parfitt answered questions regarding vehicle occupancy rates and how this was measured in Nelson. Mr Harland noted that there is no standard methodology in New Zealand for measuring vehicle occupancy rates.

Further questions were answered regarding vehicle volume counts, travel choice objectives, cycle crash numbers, public transport figures and carpooling.

In response to a question regarding the volume of rat running on Nelson roads, in particular, Princes Drive, Asset Engineer Transport, Kayleen Goldthorpe provided average daily traffic figures. Mr Palmer noted that the industry rule of thumb figure for rat running was ten percent of the average daily traffic figures.

The Chairperson noted that there were some areas where more work was needed. There had been no increase in occupancy rates of vehicles travelling along Waimea Road, with most commuters still choosing to travel in single occupancy vehicles. There were unacceptable numbers ‘rat-running’ through residential streets to avoid clogged arterial routes.

He noted that our transport network was not delivering to the needs of our growing city and that the annual monitoring report further highlighted the need for a clear direction, backed by the necessary investment to our transport network. He noted that the Nelson Future Access project was critical to giving investment-ready solutions to Nelson’s traffic problems.

In response to a question regarding what happens with the Annual Monitoring Report at an operational level, Group Manager Infrastructure, Alec Louverdis, said that the information would be analysed and taken into account in the preparation of the next Activity Management Plan that would guide the next Long-Term Plan.

Resolved RTC/2019/030
	That the Regional Transport Committee 1.    Receives the report 2018/19 Annual Monitoring Report on the Regional Transport Plan 2015-21 (R10299) and its attachment (A2229275).
Noonan/Her Worship the Mayor Carried

The meeting was adjourned at 10.33a.m. and reconvened at 10.50.am

8.       New Zealand Transport Agency Update

Document number R10386, agenda pages 46 - 50 refer.

Jim Harland, NZTA representative, summarised the points in his PowerPoint presentation. In response to a question, he confirmed that it was his expectation that new speed limits would be in place between Nelson and Blenheim by Christmas.  He stressed the need for the Future Access Study to understand the broad economic drivers from the rural hinterland as it directly impacted on the level of investment needed for roads. He noted that the Ministry of Transport had started work on the next GPS. In response to a question regarding the innovative streets programme, Mr Harland said that the NZTA was establishing a website to encourage communication and put in a support package for councils, looking at temporary physical changes to streetscape and street design for safe and active modes. He noted that some case studies had been done around New Zealand. Ms Parfitt advised that a Council officer had been invited to be part of the technical advisory group. In response to a question regarding a project timeline, Ms Parfitt advised that officers were awaiting guidance from the NZTA and Mr Harland was asked to communicate with officers and that a response be circulated to Regional Transport Committee members. A request was made that the presentation by Clare Scott to the Works and Infrastructure Committee on behalf of Kawai Street residents, be forwarded to NZTA’s Catherine King. In response to a question regarding what Council could do to elevate the issue of drug driving, it was suggested that Council have conversations with different groups and use social media and its networks to get the message out.
Resolved RTC/2019/031
	That the Regional Transport Committee 1.    Receives the report New Zealand Transport Agency Update (R10386) and its attachment (A2240237).
Rutledge/Noonan Carried
Attachments 1    A2260077 - NZTA Update PowerPoint presentation

9.       Update on National Land Transport Programme funding

Document number R10391, agenda pages 51 - 56 refer.

Resolved RTC/2019/032
	That the Regional Transport Committee 1.    Receives the report Update on National Land Transport Programme funding  (R10391) and its attachment A2212999 and A2244093.
Harland/Matheson Carried

10.  Nelson Future Access Update

Document number R10423, agenda pages 57 - 64 refer.

Coral Aldridge and Rhys Palmer of the NZTA, were present for this item. Mr Palmer provided a summary of the report, noting that a draft strategic business case was scheduled to go to the next Governance Group meeting for endorsement.

Points covered included stakeholder and community engagement, an alternate representation proposal following iwi engagement, and the updated programme.

In response to a question regarding iwi engagement, Mr Palmer said that the proposal discussed meant more iwi involvement and collaboration.

The following points were highlighted for this critical project:

· the importance of early diary appointments for councillors, iwi and stakeholders

· pre-circulation of documents/material

· the need for adequate focus on climate change.

Resolved RTC/2019/033
	That the Regional Transport Committee 1.    Receives the report Nelson Future Access Update (R10423) and its attachment (A2253273 and A2253275).
Her Worship the Mayor/Harland Carried

11.     South Island Regional Transport Committee Chairs Group Update

Document number R10434, agenda pages 65 - 88 refer.

Resolved RTC/2019/034
	That the Regional Transport Committee 1.    Receives the report South Island Regional Transport Committee Chairs Group Update (R10434) and its attachment (A2246471).
Rutledge/Noonan Carried

12.     Exclusion of the Public

Recommendation Rutledge / Matheson

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:

Item	General subject of each matter to be considered	Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter	Particular interests protected (where applicable)
1	Regional Transport Committee Meeting - Public Excluded Minutes -  1 July 2019	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.	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)
	Continuation of discussion on Procedural motion	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.	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)

The meeting went into public excluded session at 11.45a.m. and resumed in public session at 11.50a.m.

Please note that as the only business transacted in public excluded was to confirm the minutes, this business has been recorded in the public minutes. In accordance with the Local Government Official Information Meetings Act, no reason for withholding this information from the public exists.

13.     Confirmation of Minutes

13.1    1 July 2019

Document number M4337, agenda pages 3 - 5 refer.

Resolved RTC/2019/035
	That the Regional Transport Committee 1.    Confirms the minutes of part of the meeting of the Regional Transport Committee, held with the public excluded on 1 July 2019, as a true and correct record.
Her Worship the Mayor/Matheson Carried

Procedural motion to the refer the matter of Public Transport: Moving to a Gross Price Contract

The Chief Executive advised that the recommendation to refer the matter to the incoming Council was not required, as the matter was scheduled to be reported to a future Regional Transport Committee meeting.

14.     Re-admittance of the Public

Resolved RTC/2019/036
	That the Council 1. Re-admits the public to the meeting.
Rutledge/Noonan Carried

There being no further business the meeting ended at 11.50.am.

CONFIRMED AS A TRUE AND CORRECT RECORD BY THE CHAIRPERSON AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE UNDER STANDING ORDER 26.4:

                                                       Chairperson                                     Date

                                                       Chief Executive                                 Date