Media statement
For immediate release
Tuesday, 30 August 2005

Dunne: Time for the people to speak on Transmission Gully

Ohariu-Belmont MP Peter Dunne says it’s time for the people of the greater Wellington region to speak up in support of the Transmission Gully motorway project, following the failure yesterday of the region’s local body leaders to come to a majority decision on the capital’s northern access.

“A tied vote decided by a casting vote in favour of widening the coastal highway is an absolute disgrace and shows the complete failure of the region’s leaders to work together,” he said.

“Those who voted for the coastal highway did so knowing full well that it will cost as least as much as Transmission Gully; it will destroy several coastal communities; it will take many years longer to build than Transmission Gully; it has little to no chance of getting through the resource consent and appeals process; and at the end of all that, if it is ever built, it will still be subject to the floods and landslides that plague the current road.

“The only way that commonsense can prevail is for the people to speak up in the upcoming consultation process and tell the decisionmakers that they want a safe, viable second route north of the capital in order to maintain the living standards of those on the coast and the economic prosperity of the entire region,” said Mr Dunne.

ENDS

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