The group says maintenance is infrequent \u2013 often only occurring after a weather event or service requests \u2013 and is causing health and safety risks and increased maintenance for vehicle operators.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bypass is free and provides important economic connectivity for primary industry,\u201d Pourau Incorporation chair Philip Hope told Local Democracy Reporting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt appears some of the decision-makers at GDC (Gisborne District Council) do not value the role of primary industry on the East Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pourau Rd bypass was a complex and urgent build following the destruction of Hikuwai Bridge No 1 in Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.<\/p>\n
It remains the only SH35 access route for heavy vehicles over 50 tonnes until the Hikuwai Bridge is rebuilt, which is expected by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n
The bypass project was undertaken by Pourau Incorporation, in partnership with Kuru Contracting, and is on the incorporation\u2019s land.<\/p>\n
Hope said the incorporation wanted to support coastal communities and the primary industry, and would continue to keep Pourau Rd open.<\/p>\n
However, Hope said the road was \u201crundown\u201d because of infrequent maintenance work by the council.<\/p>\n
Drains, culverts and cattle stops were blocked, and potholes were growing in size.<\/p>\n
\u201cAside from installing laneway fences, cattle stops, culverts, upgrading the yards, and erosion control above and below the bypass, the maintenance needs for infrastructure and this road are ongoing,\u201d Hope said.<\/p>\n
Pourau Incorporation land is a M\u0101ori land incorporation of the Potae Estate, which holds 1462ha between five whenua blocks between north Mangatuna and Tokomaru Bay.<\/p>\n
Hope said NZTA provided funding to the council for road maintenance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is for this reason we\u2019ve been asking GDC colleagues for some time to meet with us at Pourau Rd so together we can assess, review and agree on a progressive maintenance programme, including the frequency of maintenance work needed for the duration of the Hikuwai Bridge build.\u201d<\/p>\n
A truck leaves a dusty trail while using the Pourau Rd State Highway 35 bypass. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Dust had also been an ongoing issue. Mitigation was a requirement of the resource consent conditions for the Hikuwai Bridge rebuild being undertaken by the Transport Rebuild East Coast (Trec) alliance, he said.<\/p>\n
Hope said he had been in contact with Trec last week about dust mitigation and they were pleased with the plans about to be put in place.<\/p>\n
Pourau Inc chair Philip Hope said after being in contact with the Transport Rebuild East Coast alliance last week, they were pleased with the dust mitigation plans about to be put in place. Contractors arrived on Friday to water the road. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
However, he questioned who at the council was responsible for ensuring compliance with consent decisions.<\/p>\n
The severe dust was a health risk to wh\u0101nau working at the wharenui above the road, as well as kaimahi (staff) on the farm, and also posed a significant health risk to livestock, Hope said.<\/p>\n
Council journeys infrastructure manager Dave Hadfield said the council had completed regular maintenance of the road just last month, including grading, pothole repairs and site rail repairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe funding council receives for maintenance is not enough to fix all roads across the network,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Hadfield said they were in contact with Pourau Incorporation and were keen to work with them on the future of the road when the bridge was reinstated in 2026.<\/p>\n
Hadfield said the dust mitigation issue was a requirement of the resource consent for the Hikuwai Bridge construction being undertaken by the Transport Rebuild East Coast (Trec) alliance.<\/p>\n
The consent holder was responsible for ensuring compliance with consent conditions. The council\u2019s compliance team monitored breaches or non-compliance with consents, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrec have advised Pourau [Inc] and council [that] they will be undertaking work to address dust issues in the next few days.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2.2km bypass opened in March 2023 and became the main state highway for four months following the cyclone.<\/p>\n
A Bailey (temporary) bridge for lighter vehicles was installed at the site and will be in operation until the new bridge is opened. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The group says maintenance is infrequent \u2013 often only occurring after a weather event or service requests \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,17517,6658,76546,3043,13111,5205,33959,7557,3806,2082,33960,12506,26755,27135,82456,440,15032,111,43,139,69,1118,5425,1314,88364,13672,204,88363],"class_list":["post-127337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-because","tag-built","tag-bypass","tag-call","tag-coasts","tag-council","tag-cyclone","tag-district","tag-east","tag-for","tag-gabrielle","tag-gisborne","tag-highway","tag-lack","tag-landowners","tag-local","tag-maintenance","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-regular","tag-road","tag-rundown","tag-state","tag-temporary","tag-upkeep"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}