Marlborough council secures $50m to fix roads outside the Sounds

The Government has agreed to fund nearly $50m to repair roads in Marlborough heavily damaged during a storm in August last year.

The Marlborough District Council asked Waka Kotahi for $52.4m for roads outside the Marlborough Sounds, in areas such as the Ure Valley, Awatere Valley, Northbank Rd, Waihopai Valley Rd, Pukaka Rd and Tinline Rd.

The Waka Kotahi board last week agreed to fund 95% of the $52.4m, which meant the council would provide the remaining $2.6m.

Some of the funding would also be spent on design work for “high priority” sites on Queen Charlotte Dr, and repairs in the Marlborough Sounds deemed “necessary” to maintain access in the short term. It would also fund a one-year extension of barge and water taxi subsidies in the Marlborough Sounds.

Marlborough mayor Nadine Taylor said the outcome was “fantastic” news, particularly because the Government was under significant pressure and facing funding requests from the North Island as part of the Cyclone Gabrielle recovery and rebuild.

She thanked Waka Kotahi for agreeing to the financial assistance.

Previous funding allocations of $85m and $3.4m were provided by Waka Kotahi, bringing Marlborough’s total storm recovery funding so far to $141m.

“This is great news for our communities,” Taylor says.

She says there is still “some way to go” with recovery efforts across the region, including work on the Marlborough Sounds Future Access Study.

Engineering consultancy company Stantec was commissioned by the council to assess the options for five parts of the Sounds after the road network was damaged during flooding in July 2021 and August 2022.

Those areas were Rai Valley to French Pass, Pelorus, the outer Sounds (Kenepuru Rd), Queen Charlotte Dr and Port Underwood.

The council had landed on “emerging preferred options” for each of the five areas, which included building back roads and considered improved marine access options, but these details had yet to be released.

Instead, it planned to release them during drop-in sessions with the community later this month.

The public would also be asked about alternative, climate-resilient options for each area – with a combination of “short-term actions and longer-term options”, in case there were more major weather events.

“The harsh reality is we need a transport system that can cope with the damaging impacts of climate change, sea level rise and earthquakes, well into the future,” Taylor said last month.

Stantec’s assessment had involved technical analysis and community feedback from landowners, homeowners and businesses, from a survey in February.

Drop-in sessions
Tuesday June 20: Lansdowne Park Sports Hub, Blenheim, 5pm-7pm

Wednesday June 21: Waitaria Bay Hall, 10am-12pm

Thursday June 22: French Pass Hall, 10am-12pm

Friday June 23: Linkwater Hall, 2pm-4pm

Monday June 26: The Millers Rest, Rai Valley, 10am-12pm

Monday June 26: Zoom online, 5.30pm-7.30pm

Tuesday June 27: Trafalgar Centre, Northern Extension, Nelson, 3pm-5pm

Wednesday June 28: Port Marlborough Pavilion, Picton, 12pm-2pm

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air.