Peka Peka to North Ōtaki Expressway Proposal
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Final Report and Decision of the Board of Inquiry into the Peka Peka to North Ōtaki Expressway Proposal Volume 1 of 2: Final Report and Appendices Produced under Section 149R of the Resource Management Act 1991 February 2014 Prepared by the Board of Inquiry into the Peka Peka to North Ōtaki Expressway Proposal i BEFORE THE BOARD OF INQUIRY CONCERNING TWO NOTICES OF REQUIREMENT AND APPLICATIONS FOR RESOURCE CONSENTS IN RESPECT OF THE PEKA PEKA TO NORTH ƿTAKI EXPRESSWAY PROJECT IN THE MATTER of the Resource Management Act 1991 and the deliberations of a Board of Inquiry appointed under Section 149J of the Act to consider two Notices of Requirement and Applications for resource consents by New Zealand Transport Agency and KiwiRail Holdings Ltd, in respect of the Peka Peka To North ƿtaki Expressway Project FINAL REPORT AND DECISION OF BOARD OF INQUIRY UNDER SECTION 149R OF THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACT 1991 ii BEFORE A BOARD OF INQUIRY PEKA PEKA TO NORTH ƿTAKI EXPRESSWAY PROJECT IN THE MATTER of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) AND IN THE MATTER of the deliberations of a Board of Inquiry appointed under s149J of that Act AND IN THE MATTER of a Notice of Requirement and Resource Consent Applications by the NZ Transport Agency for the Peka Peka to North ƿtaki Expressway Project AND IN THE MATTER of a Notice of Requirement by KiwiRail Holdings Limited (trading as KiwiRail) for realignment of a section of the North Island Main Trunk railway line Board: Hon Sir Hugh Williams,QC (Chair) Mr Mark Apeldoorn (Member) Dr Jeff Jones (Member) Professor Roger Maaka (Member) Ms Pamela Peters (Member) Legal Representation: Messrs Paul Beverley, David Randal and Mark Mulholland appearing for the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) Mr James Gardner-Hopkins and Ms Emma Matheson appearing for KiwiRail Holdings Limited (KiwiRail) Ms Kerry Anderson and Mr Mathew Booth appearing for the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) Mr Matt Conway appearing for KƗpiti Coast District Council (KCDC) Mr Bennion for Generation Zero Hearing: Southwards Car Museum, Paraparaumu, from 23–27 September, 30 September and 1–2 October 2013 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE 1. Decision ................................................................................................................................ 1 2. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 2 2.1 Description of the Project .......................................................................................... 4 2.2 Relevant History of the PP2O Expressway Project (including Consultation) ........... 8 3. Statutory Framework: Proposals of National Significance; Boards of Inquiry; Structure and Other Frameworks ............................................................................................ 17 3.1 General ................................................................................................................... 17 3.2 Board of Inquiry ....................................................................................................... 17 3.3 Statutory Matters Required to be Considered ........................................................ 18 3.4 Conditions ............................................................................................................... 23 3.5 Management Plans ................................................................................................. 24 3.6 Adaptive Management ............................................................................................25 3.7 Baseline .................................................................................................................. 27 4. Effects of the Project ........................................................................................................ 29 4.1 Air Quality ............................................................................................................... 30 4.2 Aquatic Ecology ...................................................................................................... 35 4.3 Archaeology ............................................................................................................ 39 4.4 Built Heritage .......................................................................................................... 44 4.5 Construction Noise and Vibration ........................................................................... 48 4.6 Construction Programme and Methodology ...........................................................53 4.7 Contaminated Land ................................................................................................. 57 4.8 Culture and Heritage ...............................................................................................60 4.9 Economics .............................................................................................................. 63 4.10 Geotechnical, Seismicity and Settlement ............................................................... 73 4.11 Groundwater ........................................................................................................... 78 4.12 Hydrology and Flooding (including Climate Change Effects) ................................. 82 4.13 Landscape and Visual Effects ................................................................................ 91 4.14 Lighting ................................................................................................................... 98 4.15 Operational Noise and Vibration ...........................................................................100 4.16 Public Health .........................................................................................................108 4.17 Social Impacts and Wellbeing ............................................................................... 112 4.18 Stormwater and Sediment .................................................................................... 118 4.19 Terrestrial Ecology ................................................................................................123 4.20 Traffic and Transport ............................................................................................. 128 4.21 Urban Design ........................................................................................................150 iv 5. Minister’s Reasons for Direction of PP2O to Board .................................................... 156 6. Information Provided to BoI by EPA under s 149G ..................................................... 158 7. Alternative Sites, Routes or Methods............................................................................ 159 8. Objectives of Requiring Authorities for which the Designation is sought: Is PP2O “Reasonably Necessary”? ............................................................................................. 166 9. Policy Statements, Plans and Standards ...................................................................... 171 10. Other Matters ................................................................................................................... 176 11. Part 2 ................................................................................................................................. 178 12. Comments on the Draft Decision ................................................................................... 184 13. Appraisal, Assessment and Decision ........................................................................... 185 APPENDIX 1: Glossary of Terms ........................................................................................... 191 APPENDIX 2: List of Activities Sought ................................................................................. 195 APPENDIX 3: Road Layout Plans .......................................................................................... 203 APPENDIX 4: Procedural History........................................................................................... 213 APPENDIX 5: List of Submitters and Evidence Provided ................................................... 219 APPENDIX 6: Section 108 of the RMA ................................................................................... 225 APPENDIX 7: Comment on the Draft Decision ..................................................................... 229 1 1. DECISION [1] This is the Final Report of the Board of Inquiry (Board) appointed to consider two Notices of Requirement and Applications for Resource Consents relating to the Peka Peka to Otaki Expressway Project (PP2O) as required by s 149R.1 [2] After considering all the matters discussed in this Report, the Board’s unanimous Decision is to confirm the Notices of Requirement and grant the Resource Consents, in both cases on the conditions set out in Volume 2. 1 Section 149R of the RMA. All statutory references in this Report are to the RMA unless specified otherwise. 2 2. INTRODUCTION [3] By Notices of Requirement (NoR) dated 13 and 7 March 2013 respectively, NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and KiwiRail Holdings Limited2 (trading as KiwiRail) (KiwiRail) lodged with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) NoRs for designations under ss 145 and 168 for what, in brief were described as: “NZTA gives notice of a requirement for a designation for a public work (or for a project or work or in respect of any land, water, subsoil, or airspace where a restriction is necessary for the safe or efficient functioning or operation