Draft Report and Decision of the Board of Inquiry into the Peka Peka to North Ōtaki Expressway Proposal Volume 1 of 2: Draft Report and Appendices Produced under Section 149Q of the Resource Management Act 1991 November 2013 Prepared by the Board of Inquiry into the Peka Peka to North Ōtaki Expressway Proposal i BEFORE THE BOARD OF INQUIRY CONCERNING A REQUEST FOR TWO NOTICES OF REQUIREMENT AND APPLICATIONS FOR RESOURCE CONSENTS TO ALLOW THE PEKA PEKA TO NORTH ŌTAKI 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 a request for 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 Ōtaki Expressway Project DRAFT DECISION AND REPORT OF BOARD OF INQUIRY UNDER SECTION 149Q OF THE ACT ii BEFORE A BOARD OF INQUIRY PEKA PEKA TO NORTH ŌTAKI 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 Ōtaki 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 Mathew Conway appearing for Kāpiti 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 DRAFT REPORT OF BOARD OF INQUIRY 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 (including Conditions) .................... 17 3.4 Conditions ............................................................................................................... 23 3.5 Management Plans ................................................................................................. 24 3.6 Adaptive Management ............................................................................................ 25 3.7 Baseline .................................................................................................................. 26 4. Effects of the Project ........................................................................................................ 28 4.1 Air Quality ............................................................................................................... 28 4.2 Aquatic Ecology ...................................................................................................... 34 4.3 Archaeology ............................................................................................................ 38 4.4 Built Heritage .......................................................................................................... 42 4.5 Construction Noise and Vibration ........................................................................... 46 4.6 Construction Programme and Methodology ........................................................... 51 4.7 Contaminated Land ................................................................................................. 55 4.8 Culture and Heritage ............................................................................................... 58 4.9 Economics .............................................................................................................. 61 4.10 Geotechnical, Seismicity and Settlement ............................................................... 71 4.11 Groundwater ........................................................................................................... 76 4.12 Hydrology and Flooding (including Climate Change Effects) ................................. 80 4.13 Landscape and Visual Effects ................................................................................ 89 4.14 Lighting ................................................................................................................... 96 4.15 Operational Noise and Vibration ............................................................................. 98 4.16 Public Health ......................................................................................................... 106 4.17 Social Impacts and Wellbeing ............................................................................... 110 4.18 Stormwater and Sediment .................................................................................... 116 4.19 Terrestrial Ecology ................................................................................................ 121 4.20 Traffic and Transport ............................................................................................. 126 4.21 Urban Design ........................................................................................................ 148 5. Minister’s Reasons for Direction of PP2O to Board .................................................... 154 6. Information Provided to BoI by EPA under s 149G ..................................................... 156 iv 7. Alternative Sites, Routes or Methods............................................................................ 157 8. Objectives of Requiring Authorities: Is PP2O “Reasonably Necessary”? ............... 164 9. Policy Statements, Plans and Standards ...................................................................... 166 10. Other Matters ................................................................................................................... 171 11. Part 2 ................................................................................................................................. 173 12. Appraisal, Assessment and Decision ........................................................................... 179 APPENDIX 1: Glossary of Terms ........................................................................................... 185 APPENDIX 2: List of Activities Sought ................................................................................. 189 APPENDIX 3: Road Layout Plans .......................................................................................... 197 APPENDIX 4: Procedural History........................................................................................... 207 APPENDIX 5: List of Submitters and Evidence Provided ................................................... 213 APPENDIX 6: Section 108 of the RMA ................................................................................... 219 2 2. INTRODUCTION [4] 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 Agency (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 of a public work or a project or work), being the construction, operation and maintenance of the Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway Project (the Project) in the Kāpiti Coast District Plan.” “KiwiRail gives notice of a requirement for a designation for a public work (or for a project or work or in terms of any land, water, subsoil, or airspace where a restriction is necessary for the safe or efficient functioning or operation of a public work or a project or work), being the construction, operation and maintenance of a re-aligned section of the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) through Ōtaki, named the Ōtaki Rail Realignment, and being part of the Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway Project (the Project) in the Kāpiti Coast District Plan.” [5] The NoRs comprise two NoRs, and Applications for 24 land use consents, 19 water permits and six discharge permits. These include the resource consents required