Road maintenance under fire: councillor believes GDC is ‘skimping’

A Gisborne councillor has taken aim at the state of the region’s roads, accusing the council of not maintaining them to national standards.

But the council has pushed back, saying the amount required to meet community expectations is not a feasible investment.

Speaking at Thursday’s full council meeting where the Annual Report was discussed, Colin Alder said he had been doing “a bit of research” on national standards for roading repairs.

Referencing a section of the council’s report which said the council met all its targets for mandatory roading performance measures, Mr Alder took exception.

Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency recommended roads be checked every three to seven days, and that damage be repaired immediately, he said.

“Having hit one (pothole) the other day, I would suggest that is possibly not being followed.

“What checks are our council doing and are we enforcing these things on our contractors?”

Mr Alder said many councillors had campaigned on the issue of road maintenance, which he believed the council was “skimping” on when it came to potholes.

“If we’re going to settle for what we’ve got, carry on with doing the same thing, I think we need to lift our game and start meeting the targets the rest of the country is achieving when it comes to road maintenance,” he said.

“It’s going to save our ratepayers a hell of a lot in busted tyres and things, and maintenance on their vehicles.”

Community lifelines acting director Dave Hadfield said the council could not physically meet the Waka Kotahi standard, which applied to busy roads such as highways.

Chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann said the council’s asset management plans had shown the council would need to spend around $10 million a year more to reach the levels of service the community wanted.

The council had previously said there was no way the organisation could afford to do that, Mrs Thatcher Swann said.

“The reality is once you see the numbers, it’s eye-watering.”

The council has estimated its repair bill following Cyclone Gabrielle to be between $465 and $725 million for roading alone.

Consultation ended on Monday for a $204 million Government support package to support the estimated $1 billion total recovery.