6 January 2005

Kapiti floods again raise Transmission Gully issue

“The repeatedly sidelined Transmission Gully option must be given urgent and thorough consideration,” Wellington-based ACT MP Heather Roy said today.

Mrs Roy’s comments follow flash flooding on the Kapiti Coast, which has again caused the closure of State Highway One – in and out of Wellington. The casualties include local hospitals having to cancel out-patient appointments with staff unable to get to work.

“This raises yet again the question of whether this one unreliable northern road to and from the nation's capital is adequate. In the recent past, accidents and bad weather have closed State Highway One too many times.

“It’s a frightening thought that anyone living north of the road closure who needs urgent medical attention would have to be helicoptered in!

“In November I called for cross-party support for the building of Transmission Gully and the upgrading of Centennial Highway. Labour completely ignored my call and Peter Dunne, rather than welcoming a call for action, took my comments as a personal affront.

“The Wellington region needs political action, not political apathy. It is outrageous that this major roading problem is being ignored in a region that has the political representation of four Cabinet Ministers, two Labour backbenchers and the leader of a Labour-supporting party.

“In political terms the Wellington region is a sea of red. Yet Labour's dominance in this region has done nothing for the city's roading woes. These MPs are all taking their supporters for granted and are failing to address serious infrastructure problems.

“Procrastination may be Labour's way of saving money but it is time for action now – from across the political spectrum,” said Mrs Roy.

ENDS

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