MacKays to Peka Peka Expressway Proposal Non-Expert Conferencing – Monday 29 October 2012 9:30am – 4pm, Southward Car Museum, Otaihanga Facilitator – Environment Court Commissioner Anne Leijnen In attendance: • Luke Robertson who is here to help us take notes; and • Richard Peterson, the Friend of the Submitter Introduction • This non-expert conferencing session is open to all parties who have advised that they wish to be heard. • The purpose of the session is to collate and summarise any key aspects or issues where a collective view is held by parties. • The common views identified will then be provided to the relevant experts for consideration in the expert conferencing to follow. • Specific or individual concerns related to a particular individual’s property will not be the focus of this session. Individual concerns are better addressed through individual representations at the hearing. • The agreed list of issues will be documented here today and will be made available to the experts during conferencing, the Board of Inquiry and on the EPA website. Attendees: Name Group/Person Representing Attended Andra Davies self No Barbara Mountier self Yes Beth Lindsay Highway Occupants Group Yes Chris Dearden self Yes Kapiti Monthly Meeting of Religious Society of Christine Lenk Yes – left at 12pm Friends/Diane Evans Dale Hinkley self Yes Elaine Engman self Yes Gary Pallow self Yes – left at 1pm. Graham Bathgate Highway Occupants Group Yes 1 Name Group/Person Representing Attended Jayne Staple Raumati South Residents Association Yes John Riding Marico Marine NZ Yes – left at 11am. Jonathan Gradwell Self Yes – left at 2.45PM Julia Harris self No Karen Whibley self Yes Linda Schager self Yes Loretta Pomare self Yes – left at 11:30am. Lynn Sleath Kapiti Cycling Incorporated Yes – left at 1pm Marion Sherley self No Mark Harris Save Kapiti, self Yes Mary Campbell-Cree Raumati South Residents Association Yes Yes – arrived at 11.45am, left at Michelle Lewis 3:15pm. Monica Dearden self No Tony Davies self No Wayne Hamilton self Yes Statement of Issues The subject matters below are based on those groups established for expert conferencing. This is by no means an exhaustive list and can be developed as the day goes along. Subject matters Noise & Vibration A distinction needs to be made between day time and night time operational noise levels. The exchange of rural natural sounds for industrial noise has not been fully appreciated in the design in terms of the standards suggested as being acceptable. Ambient noise is considerably lower within Kapiti than most suburban communities and a high number of people will be affected. World Health Organisation guidelines recommend an average level of 40dB during the night. People wake up to noise above 42dB and adverse health effects are observed at levels above 40dB. Night time noise levels are particularly important given the types of traffic on the road between 2am and 6am are heavy vehicles moving freight. 2 There is a lack of confidence in noise mitigation measures, particularly in relation to raised structures such as bridges, interchanges and their approaches. The region is characterised by an outdoor based lifestyle. This will be adversely impacted by introduced noise and cannot be mitigated. Vibration during the construction period and during operation is expected to be worse than normal given prevalence of sand dunes and peat soils. The design does not provide confidence that this has been taken into account and the long term effects have not been taken into consideration. Geotechnical, geology, erosion & sediment and Groundwater & hydrology The route chosen would be subject to liquefaction in the case of an earthquake. There has not been enough consideration of the geotechnical and vibration effects of construction on existing buildings, structures and land because of the nature of the sand and peat. The effects could be further from the actual site of construction and designation. The group has experience of the existing significant changes in groundwater levels and the group does not believe that adequate research has been undertaken in the design of the expressway to take this into account. The Kapiti district has a high water table that varies from season to season. There is concern about the hydrological model being used. There is concern that the design proposed may actually contribute to flooding. There is concern about who holds the liability should flood events occur. There is a concern about climate change and its impact on sea level rise and consequential groundwater behaviour, as well as weather change (e.g. rainfall in the district) and whether this plan has taken sufficient recognition of global research into this area. 1400 homes have been identified as being affected by climate change in the Kapiti District. There needs to be adequate erosion and sediment control plans for all of the wetlands. Planning The airport redevelopment, fire station and a number of subdivisions were premised on the basis of the Western Link Road proposal. The proposal has not taken account of due process or consideration of the impacts across the district. The proposal undermines the long term plan and district plan for the Kapiti district. There has been no acknowledgement by NZTA of the adverse effects of the change to the existing designation. There needs to be clarification as to what the base case is. The proposed expressway benefits should be measured against the Western Link Road designation expected benefits. 3 Social impact assessment There is a particular social disruption because the community has built itself around the way the road was planned (as the Western Link Road). NZTA has not done research on the effects of the expressway disrupting the community. The changed character of the communities may result in a change to the demographics of the area. It is not appropriate to offset the disadvantages generated for one part of the community against the advantages for another part of the community. The NZTA have not demonstrated how this proposal is sustainable development compared to the tremendous efforts that have been made by our community and others over many years to establish the Kapiti Coast as the ‘Nature Coast’. There should be a Social Impact Assessment for vulnerable communities. There is a lack of health and safety assessments. There is a need for an audit of the wider health, wellbeing and safety impacts of the proposal as a whole, particularly in listed high risk areas. Ecology Replanting mitigation should occur in the area where the works occur. Given KCDC’s recent closure of a deep water bore due to the risk of salination, we question the use of deep water bores along the length of the expressway from an ecological and hydrological perspective. The group has no faith in the methodology for the designed artificial wetlands and their impact on natural wetlands. The technical specifications are lacking and there is a lack of robustness in the research which calls this mitigation into question. Monitoring and community involvement. Economics The economics for the project as part of the RONS are flawed and unsubstantiated. The impact of the road on people whose house has not been purchased by NZTA is significant, as many of them have suffered a loss in property values and cannot sell. The maintenance costs of the existing SH1 as a local road by ratepayers will be high after the road has been handed over to KCDC. The costs of the project are out of all proportion to the problem trying to be solved. The problem in Kapiti is pinch points in the current flow, not in the capacity, as long as a local arterial road is built. Making the existing state highway unimpeded for heavy traffic by taking out the pinch points would be significantly cheaper with or without the Western Link Road. In the current economic climate it is not affordable to build a road that goes beyond the needs of the community. 4 Traffic & Transportation Appropriate sustainable improvements need to be made to the road network in Kapiti. Improvements need to be made to public transport as part of the overall solution. Local connectivity needed to be improved to keep highway traffic separated from local traffic, hence the need for a centrally located north-south Kapiti arterial road. This proposal does not address that need and removes this option for the future. Provision needs to be made for a railway station and parking facilities at Raumati South. We acknowledge that freight movements through Kapiti need to be considered in the solution, but there is a need for integrated multi-modal transport management including coastal shipping and rail. An upgraded existing State Highway 1 option is viable and would be the preferred option. There is no direct relationship between population growth and traffic growth, yet population growth is being used as a planning premise. Existing State Highway 1 will not and does not currently serve local connectivity purposes well because of its location and lack of east-west connections. Western Link Road would have provided local connectivity, whereas expressway will prevent this. Western Link Road would provide north-south connectivity to complement existing local east-west connectivity. Downstream and community traffic for feeder roads outside the construction zone and those in the construction zone require traffic management and safe pedestrian facilities including crossing points. There should be site-specific construction traffic management plans for road, pedestrian and cycle way traffic and these must have input from affected users and community members, as one size does not fit all. Urban Design/Landscape An expressway/motorway that cuts through three communities is not consistent with the best principles of urban design. There was a cohesive urban design plan for the town centre area but the road is splitting the area into 6 separate communities and this has been destroyed.