The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission - Te Waihanga has endorsed Westport's Master Plan in Stage One of the Infrastructure Priorities Programme (IPP), deeming the project to be nationally important.

Buller District Council’s project was one of 75 large-scale national initiatives put forward for endorsement, with just 25 progressing through to the next stage.

Projects given Stage One status have been evaluated and verified that they meet New Zealand’s strategic objectives as a country, represent good value for money, and are deliverable.

Buller District Council Chief Executive Office Simon Pickford says: “Our team submitted the Westport Master Planning work to Te Waihanga’s Infrastructure Priorities Programme (IPP) earlier this year. This recognition affirms Buller's capability to compete on a national stage and compliments the project’s LGNZ SuperIdea - Tū Auaha Award received in July 2025.”

Part of the development of the Infrastructure Commission’s National Infrastructure Plan, the IPP is an independent, standardised process, administered by Te Waihanga.

“Having our complex, community-centric project rigorously tested by an independent body to ensure it is business case-ready is an important step for an intergenerational strategy such as this. It is another positive step forward for both BDC and the Master Planning programme and we are proud of the teams involved in this work” continues Mr Pickford.

Council will continue its work with the Infrastructure Commission to guide the project through the subsequent stages of the IPP.

Background information

The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission - Te Waihanga is an autonomous Crown entity tasked with identifying infrastructure priorities and developing broad public agreement on approaches to infrastructure. It enables independent methodology for identifying and building consensus around the country’s top infrastructure priorities.

Proposals and projects assessed as meeting the criteria under the IPP will be published and included within the National Infrastructure Plan, sending a strong signal to decision-makers and the public that these are infrastructure priorities.

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