{"id":315910,"date":"2026-03-06T11:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T11:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/315910\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T11:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T11:23:11","slug":"rotorua-sh30a-roadworks-debacle-council-responds-to-nztas-no-correspondence-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/315910\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotorua SH30A roadworks debacle: Council responds to NZTA\u2019s \u2018no correspondence\u2019 claim"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scheduled to last until mid-December, the work was cut short later that day after reported travel delays of up to two hours caused major disruption<\/a> to schools, workplaces and healthcare providers.<\/p>\n

NZTA was given a dressing down<\/a> from Rotorua MP Todd McClay and Mayor Tania Tapsell, but has recently said no opposition was tabled by the council before works took place.<\/p>\n

The agency\u2019s response to an Official Information Act (OIA) request said it \u201cdid not receive any correspondence\u201d from council staff, elected officials, local MPs or any other parties ahead of starting the roadworks.<\/p>\n

NZTA said it would not \u201cordinarily expect to receive correspondence from these parties in advance\u201d of planned roadworks.<\/p>\n

The agency repeated these claims when pressed for clarity by Local Democracy Reporting.<\/p>\n

\" Traffic built up in Rotorua’s eastern suburbs the day of the initial roadworks. Photo \/ Ben Fraser<\/p>\n

Tapsell told Local Democracy Reporting that concerns were flagged with NZTA before work began, both by the council and nearby businesses.<\/p>\n

She said NZTA was advised to engage and explore alternatives to a full closure with local businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw the full closure did result in significant delays for our community,\u201d Tapsell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as work began, the city was at a standstill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tapsell said she and the council \u201cimmediately\u201d raised concerns with NZTA.<\/p>\n

A letter from chief executive Andrew Moraes asked NZTA to reconsider its approach after \u201csignificant disruptions\u201d. Students missed exams, and delivery of essential supplies was disrupted, as was construction work and emergency vehicle access, among other things.<\/p>\n

Tapsell commended NZTA for taking swift action that day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really glad that NZTA changed their approach so promptly, the new road going in is great and was much needed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The resurfacing work restarted on January 27 under a new plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t had any issues of delays or disruption since.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RotoruaRotorua Lakes Council Mayor Tania Tapsell. Photo \/ Laura Smith<\/p>\n

Moraes said the council spoke to NZTA through multiple channels before the November roadworks started. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe stressed to them the reservations and concerns we had.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said these \u201cunminuted operational meetings, phone calls and in-person conversations\u201d may not have been recorded, which may explain NZTA\u2019s OIA response.<\/p>\n

Despite what he called a day of \u201csevere disruption\u201d, Moraes said he had no interest in a \u201che-said she-said\u201d investigation because he was ultimately satisfied with the end result.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is really good is that they responded to feedback from the community, the mayor and all of us.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t just pause and come back with the same plan; they came back with a different plan and are upgrading an important piece of road in a much more managed way.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the council\u2019s relationship with NZTA was strong and he wanted to focus on how this would bring \u201cgood outcomes\u201d to the city.<\/p>\n

\" Rotorua Lakes Council chief executive Andrew Moraes. Photo \/ Laura Smith<\/p>\n

Council infrastructure and assets manager Stavros Michael said NZTA informed the council of the works in August last year.<\/p>\n

While the agency did not require council sign-off, Michael said the council would highlight factors it wanted \u201ctaken into consideration\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said elected members were given updates on October 30 and four times between November 6 and 14. A recent update was provided this week.<\/p>\n

No concerns had been raised since NZTA\u2019s modified plan started.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe work collaboratively to ensure an effective transport system for Rotorua,\u201d Michael said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognise that with any roadworks there will sometimes be inconvenience for motorists, but we do our best to minimise this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rotorua Business Chamber chief executive Melanie Short said the impact on the day was \u201cvery apparent and acute\u201d.<\/p>\n

She provided feedback on behalf of several businesses and said that NZTA accepted the impact on the community was \u201cnot acceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really pleased they listened to the feedback and took it on board,\u201d Short said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were also quick to remedy it with the solution you can now see playing out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agency originally considered<\/a> a full closure to be the quickest and safest way of completing the SH30A work.<\/p>\n

The plan now underway involves closing the road overnight from Sunday to Thursday.<\/p>\n

It was expected to cost more than under the initial four-week plan, although specific numbers were not provided in the OIA response.<\/p>\n

The works were expected to finish in mid-April.<\/p>\n

More major works starting<\/p>\n

More major Rotorua NZTA roadworks<\/a> start on Monday, with the southbound lane of SH36 through Ngongotah\u0101 to be closed on weekdays for six weeks.<\/p>\n

The lane closure is between Wikaraka St and Hall Rd, with southbound traffic to be detoured at Wikaraka St, from 9am Mondays to 2.30pm Fridays.<\/p>\n

Northbound traffic can continue to use SH36 at reduced speeds.<\/p>\n

The full asphalt rebuild is a priority to prevent the patched pavement failing in winter, NZTA has said.<\/p>\n

Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in Britain for eight years.<\/p>\n

\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scheduled to last until mid-December, the work was cut short later that day after reported travel delays of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1443,3041,9218,11783,2199,2741,17163,10709,171293,5205,25355,42,26755,5365,685,26477,43,7805,171292,4989,2171,2081,16121,39574,1327,83659,81941,61,40,38,41,39,112,379],"class_list":{"0":"post-315910","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-about","9":"tag-agency","10":"tag-before","11":"tag-brought","12":"tag-city","13":"tag-claim","14":"tag-closure","15":"tag-concerns","16":"tag-correspondence","17":"tag-council","18":"tag-debacle","19":"tag-headlines","20":"tag-highway","21":"tag-lakes","22":"tag-last","23":"tag-leaders","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-no","26":"tag-nztas","27":"tag-organisation","28":"tag-plans","29":"tag-raised","30":"tag-responds","31":"tag-roadworks","32":"tag-rotorua","33":"tag-sh30a","34":"tag-standstill","35":"tag-to","36":"tag-top-news","37":"tag-top-stories","38":"tag-topnews","39":"tag-topstories","40":"tag-transport","41":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315910","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=315910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}