Roading resilience business case adopted by Gisborne District Council
Gisborne District Council has endorsed a long-term strategy to tackle the critical condition of the region's 1899km local roading network.
The Strategic Roading Network Resilience Programme Business Case, adopted at a council meeting last Thursday, lays a path to a more resilient and reliable Tairāwhiti transport network for the level
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RNZ News
5 days ago
- RNZ News
Wandering cows spark safety fears on Tairāwhiti's highways
Gisborne farmers are being called on to help prevent wandering stock from becoming a "road statistic" by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA). File picture. Photo: LDR Roaming stock are wandering onto Tairāwhiti's local roads and highways more than once a day on average. A Gisborne freight driver wants more to be done to address the issue after witnessing crashes and nearly hitting cows on roads himself. The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has called on the region's farmers to help prevent the animals from becoming a "road statistic". Data from NZTA and Gisborne District Council (GDC) showed there have been more than 450 incidents of roaming stock in just over a year on the region's local roads and state highways. Gizzy Moves owner David Connell drives across the country for work, and believes the issue of roaming stock is at its worst on the East Coast. "I've almost hit cows on three occasions in the last three years, all in the same spot... between the area around Nūhaka, and Iwitea to Wairoa," Connell said. As well as stock, he said he has also seen a countless number of goats "mowed over by everything in the middle of the night" between Gisborne and Hawke's Bay. Connell provided Local Democracy Reporting with dashcam footage from his vehicle, showing him nearly hitting cows in Wairoa last week. "I was also towing a heavy-laden trailer, so it was just by chance that I managed to squeeze them between the two that were on the road." There were another eight to 10 cows on the side of the road, not shown on the video, he said. "Cows are herd animals; once one of them is drifting, the whole lot's going." He believed accessways, gates, and fences on the main highways should be reinforced or improved. "I'm in commercial vehicles nine times out of 10, but if you were... in a little bl***y Yaris or a Swift... you're not walking away from hitting... a ton worth a cow, especially if you hit it at 100[km/h]". NZTA Hawke's Bay and Gisborne systems manager Martin Colditz reiterated its call to farmers to help "avoid their stock becoming a statistic on our roads". Property owners or farm managers should be mindful of their supervision, regularly check fences, and take extra care when moving stock on roads, he said. Colditz said NZTA Waka Kotahi was carrying out an inspection of SH35 and would work with the council to engage with property owners. They were also exploring how they could manage and enforce increasing occurrences of wandering stock, especially on SH35. "Wandering stock on our highways presents a risk to life, so please report them as soon as you can, either by calling 0800 4 HIGHWAYS, or 111 where there is an immediate risk to safety," said Colditz. Waka Kotahi worked closely with the GDC, which had a delegation to enforce stock control on the region's state highways via the Stock Control Bylaw (2017). There were 186 instances of contractors being called out to deal with wandering stock (horses, sheep, deer) on Tai Rāwhiti state highways between May 2024 and May 2025, according to NZTA. This included 157 callouts on State Highway 35 and 29 on State Highway 2 north and south of Gisborne. On local roads, GDC animal control team lead Ross Hannam said the council received 271 'requests for service' regarding the issue from 1 July, 2024, to 30 June, 2025. "Waka Kotahi have contractors to deal with stock on state highways," Hannam said. The council had received four requests for services for both SH2 and SH35, which were dealt with as quickly as possible, according to Hannam. He said the first thing the council did was remove stock from the road to make it safe. If the owner was known, they would contact them. If they couldn't contact the owner, they would impound the stock. "The big problem is horses within the city and townships up the coast. There are a lot of horse owners that don't have any land to hold their horses," he said. "Any stock not claimed is auctioned off. This is mainly horses, and there are two or three per year." He said the council issued fencing notices to repeat offenders. The council could not issue infringements under the Animal Control Act and bylaws. Federated Farmers Gisborne-Wairoa provincial president Charles Reynolds said farmers must be vigilant about fencing. He said he had no information on whether the issue of wandering stock was worsening in the region. Wandering stock was a bigger issue up the coast north of Tolaga Bay along SH35, he said. However, Reynolds believed incidences of livestock on roads were low relative to the hundreds of kilometres of farming fence lines in the district. The vast majority of farmers were aware of the safety threat to motorists - and their animals, he said. Storms and landslides that took out fencing were a known issue. "From time to time, gates may be left open by mistake, or by visitors to a farm. Trees and large branches can fall on fences, damaging sections and enabling animals to escape," Reynolds said. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
NZ Herald
30-06-2025
- NZ Herald
Roading resilience business case adopted by Gisborne District Council
Police accept the state of the Bloomfield Road and Bushmere Rd intersection may have contributed to a two-car collision that saw four people taken to Gisborne Hospital. Photo / Paul Rickard Gisborne District Council has endorsed a long-term strategy to tackle the critical condition of the region's 1899km local roading network. The Strategic Roading Network Resilience Programme Business Case, adopted at a council meeting last Thursday, lays a path to a more resilient and reliable Tairāwhiti transport network for the level
1News
07-06-2025
- 1News
Gisborne truck route to quieten as council changes permits
A truck route 'in a constant state of deterioration' might become a lot quieter after a Gisborne District Council decision regarding heavy vehicle permits. During council meetings last year, councillors and community members raised safety concerns around trucks travelling along Back Ormond and Ormond Rds. A man who drove daily along Ormond Rd to and from work said he had seen too many 'near-misses' involving schoolchildren. In July, the council added new maps to NZ Transport Agency's (NZTA) 'H' permit system, which exclude Back Ormond and Ormond Rds. Trucks that carry over 44 tonnes require 'H' permits to be driven on roads. ADVERTISEMENT These permits were valid for up to 24 months, a council Regional Transport Committee report said. Once these expired, it would be 'a decision of Council whether to continue or not'. 'Over the coming year or so, trucks should stop using this route,' the report said. Eastland Wood Council chairman Julian Kohn said the concern was over traffic coming out of the Waimata Valley and Ormond area. 'In the next 10-15 years, there's going to be a very significant increase in the volumes of wood coming out of our forests from the Waimata-Hokoroa-Tauwhareparae area, not only from wood council members, but from other forest owners.' According to the report, the Ormond Rd-Back Ormond Rd route is 'a local road which the council pays 32% towards maintaining and is in a constant state of deterioration because of heavy vehicle traffic'. The report said traffic data captured at the port reflected the number of log trucks across the road network, which was 87% rural, most of which was built on 'unstable ground, not built for heavy vehicles and sustained significant damage from weather events'. ADVERTISEMENT It also said the number of heavy vehicles to support roading recovery after Cyclone Gabrielle had increased significantly since a 2017 freight report. The move regarding 'H' permits on Ormond and Back Ormond Rds comes as the council looks to get safety work funding for 'a preferred route' for heavy goods vehicles along State Highway 2 and SH35 (including Awapuni Rd and Customhouse St). The report said the council approved the route in 2020, provided NZTA made 'appropriate safety improvements ... at key locations along the way'. During consultation in 2020, the 'preferred route' received 57% support. However, there were significant reasons given for supporting a dual route, such as limiting adverse effects on Kiwi Pools, Awapuni School and residents, beach and surf lifesaving clubs, sports facilities and the Oneroa walkway/cycleway, the report said. To date, NZTA had not allocated any funding for the safety improvements, so the council was working to secure the funding by using transport modelling to demonstrate potential increases and identify 'priority safety improvements'. No longer permitting heavy vehicle use of Ormond and Back Ormond Rds would allow the council to 'monitor enforcement and the impact and use the data for modelling purposes'. Safety issues identified in the preferred heavy vehicle route, which Gisborne District Council consulted on in 2022 and said it received "majority support". (Source: Local Democracy Reporting) ADVERTISEMENT 56% increase in logging truck movements According to the report, since 2019, the number of logging trucks to the port have averaged 800 a day (400 each way). In December last year, the port gained consent to build a twin berth and expects a 42% increase in freight movement. 'With the port's ability to take logs more consistently with a twin berth by 2030, the number of logging truck movements on the region's network is going to increase from 800 daily average to a peak of 1250, a 56% increase.' The port said in its Traffic around Eastland Port 2022 resource consent application brief that it did not anticipate a large increase in peak truck volumes, rather, more consistent volumes closer to peak, according to the report. No funding was set aside by NZTA in the 2024-27 National Land Transport Plan for Tāirawhiti state highways to improve road safety at the Hirini St T-intersection to access Eastland Port, or any other safety upgrades required to safely implement the preferred route, the report said. Eastland Port supported NZTA and council upgrading the Hirini St. 'They stated busier days could become more common and the congested periods could become longer before the intersection is upgraded.' LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
