Residents and business urged to participate in Eastern Corridor consultation

The mayors of Auckland and Manukau cities say it is regrettable that many businesses and homeowners located in the path of potential Eastern Transport Corridor options face some uncertainty until a final decision is made.

They reiterated that all technically feasible options must be explored in the planning process as is required under the RMA.

Both mayors were responding to this week’s announcement that eleven technically feasible route options are going out for public consultation. A preferred option will be established by February.

“It is understandable that communities not previously identified as being in the path of the proposed transport corridor are concerned,” Auckland City Mayor John Banks says.

“However it is inevitable that the plans for the corridor will end up in the Environment Court and one of the tests the project needs to be able to satisfy in that forum is that all technically feasible options had been considered.”

Manukau mayor Sir Barry Curtis added that he fully accepted the concerns of residents that a preferred option needs to be developed as soon as possible to give potentially affected property owners certainty one way or the other.

Both Mayors strongly urged those affected by the project and other interested parties to participate in the consultation process that gets underway next month.

Sir Barry says, “I believe there is overwhelming community support for the Eastern Corridor, as research has confirmed. It will be meeting transport needs of the region for many generations to come. We have to do it, but we must do it once and do it right”.

Mr Banks says, “the community needs to get involved so we can get to the recommended preferred option as quickly as we can. This project is necessary and people just want us to get on with it.”

© Scoop Media