logo
Curious, concerned: Picton residents weigh in on SH1 changes

Curious, concerned: Picton residents weigh in on SH1 changes

RNZ News20-06-2025
By
Kira Carrington
, Local Democracy Reporter
NZTA staff meet with residents at Picton Library about moving State Highway 1 onto Kent Street.
Photo:
Local Democracy Reporting/ Kira Carrington
In a small room in Picton's library, dozens of people have gathered to discuss the intricacies of truck routes, intersections, school crossings and parking spaces.
They pored over stands and wall displays, showing the proposed permanent State Highway 1 route along Kent Street to the ferry terminal, instead of through central Picton.
The proposed changes have already caused controversy, with one resident
calling them "horrible"
, when they were announced on 11 June.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi's pop-up sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday hummed with questions, fresh ideas and a bit of debate, but not from Heather Hopkins, a resident of upper Kent Street, who had popped in to see how the highway would go past her home.
She was pretty happy, she said.
Picton resident Heather Hopkins says she has no concerns about NZTA's proposed changes.
Photo:
Local Democracy Reporting/ Kira Carrington
"I'm not really affected, I just wanted more information," Hopkins said.
"[I have] no concerns at all, it'll be free flowing, once everyone gets used to it."
In the evening session, people were most drawn to the board showing where Kent Street met the Wairau Road/SH1 intersection, which would take ferry passengers and freight trucks from the terminals out of town under the new proposal.
As part of a realignment of SH1 through Picton, changes have been proposed to the intersection of State Highway 1 and Wairau Road.
Photo:
NZTA
Lara O'Brien, who lived around the corner from Kent Street, said the intersection's new alignment would cut residents off from their own town centre during peak traffic.
Drivers on SH1 south of Kent Street wanting to get into central Picton would need to make a right-hand turn onto Wairau Road towards Nelson Square. During peak ferry traffic, they would be stuck in a right-turning lane with no gaps, O'Brien said.
"These people [leaving the ferry terminal] get to just go, but people going to town, when do they get to go?" O'Brien said.
"You get 60 trucks coming out of the ferry terminal. This is going to be a congestion point for locals coming out of town."
Another group lingered around the board showing the relocation of the Picton School crossing on Kent Street.
People are particularly drawn to the planned changes for the Wairau Road/Kent Street intersection.
Photo:
Local Democracy Reporting/ Kira Carrington
Many of the attendees were reluctant to speak publicly about their opinions on the divisive subject. The loss of roadside parking and problems with trucks parking along the road were common complaints.
A truck driver from Levin, whose cousin was a Picton-based truckie, came along to the evening session. He said NZTA did a similar consultation about a pedestrian overpass in Levin and he was sceptical that feedback would alter the proposal.
A Picton resident praised NZTA for moving the crossing outside Picton School back to its original position, saying he didn't know why it was put there a few years ago.
"They're just putting it back to where it was, because people don't use it."
Graphics supplied by NZTA show the loss of parking on Kent Street under the new proposal.
Photo:
NZTA
NZTA regional manager of system design Robert Osborne said the sessions were a valuable way of sharing information with Picton residents and getting their feedback.
"The drop-in sessions were all well attended, with around 30 - 40 people each session and some coming to visit us a couple of times to ask further questions," Osborne said.
"We received a great range of questions and comments, which will help us with our detailed design work.
"We also understand... that there will likely be a wide range of opinions about them. However, this project is aimed at improving Picton's roads and making it easier for people to get around.
"We look forward to continuing to hear from the community about our plans."
Design plans would now be finalised and work would start next winter.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Te Pāti Māori announces Ikaroa-Rāwhiti candidate
Te Pāti Māori announces Ikaroa-Rāwhiti candidate

RNZ News

timean hour ago

  • RNZ News

Te Pāti Māori announces Ikaroa-Rāwhiti candidate

Te Pāti Māori candidate Haley Maxwell. Photo: Supplied Te Pāti Māori has announced Haley Maxwell will stand for next year's general election - for the one Māori seat currently held by Labour. Maxwell helped organise the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti in the region last year. "Haley Maxwell spearheaded the historic Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti from Te Tairāwhiti right through to Kahungunu. Haley embodies the fierce compassion and courage that Ikaroa-Rāwhiti is famous for" Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said in a written statement. "She has stood on the marae, in the courts and on the streets for our people. Parliament will be a stronger house with her voice echoing the roar of Te Tairāwhiti." The statement described Maxwell as a wāhine Māori, māmā and nanny whose life's work centred on rangatahi justice, reo revitalisation and tangata-whenua drive community development. It said her campaign would focus on "tackling sky-high food costs, unaffordable housing, and low incomes across Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, while championing Te Pāti Māori's justice, housing, and mana motuhake policies". The party did not respond to questions about the timing of the announcement during a by-election for Tamaki-Makaurau, which Labour is also contesting. In a statement, Labour's MP for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, Cushla Tangaere-Manuel, said the region deserved choices. "I acknowledge the Te Pāti Māori candidate announcement of Hayley Maxwell, and commend her for putting herself forward," she said. "Ikaroa-Rāwhiti deserves to have choices and will ultimately choose their voice in Parliament. In the meantime it's my honour to continue to serve the region." Te Pāti Māori has announced Haley Maxwell will stand for next year's general election - for the one Māori seat currently held by Labour. Maxwell helped organise the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti in the region last year. "Haley Maxwell spearheaded the historic Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti from Te Tairāwhiti right through to Kahungunu. Haley embodies the fierce compassion and courage that Ikaroa-Rāwhiti is famous for" Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said in a written statement. "She has stood on the marae, in the courts and on the streets for our people. Parliament will be a stronger house with her voice echoing the roar of Te Tairāwhiti." The statement described Maxwell as a wāhine Māori, māmā and nanny whose life's work centred on rangatahi justice, reo revitalisation and tangata-whenua drive community development. It said her campaign would focus on "tackling sky-high food costs, unaffordable housing, and low incomes across Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, while championing Te Pāti Māori's justice, housing, and mana motuhake policies". The party did not respond to questions about the timing of the announcement during a by-election for Tamaki-Makaurau, which Labour is also contesting. In a statement, Labour's MP for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, Cushla Tangaere-Manuel, said the region deserved choices. "I acknowledge the Te Pāti Māori candidate announcement of Hayley Maxwell, and commend her for putting herself forward," she said. "Ikaroa-Rāwhiti deserves to have choices and will ultimately choose their voice in Parliament. In the meantime it's my honour to continue to serve the region." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

Will the government's changes bring down building costs?
Will the government's changes bring down building costs?

RNZ News

timean hour ago

  • RNZ News

Will the government's changes bring down building costs?

Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk said the change would have the potential to reduce total building costs by thousands of dollars. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Opposition parties say while the devil will be in the details on the government's latest building products changes, they support in principle what looks like a "sensible" change. But Labour and the Greens are also criticising the coalition's cancellation of hundreds of construction projects, saying that is what has led to a downturn in the industry. They also say delaying changes to the Building Code will mean New Zealand lags behind the rest of the world. The government on Sunday announced it would be releasing a list of overseas certification schemes that would automatically qualify products for use in New Zealand . Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk said the list would "have the potential to reduce total building costs by thousands of dollars when building a home". "There are thousands of well-made, high performing products that have been tested against rigourous international standards but have faced barriers for uptake here, purely because they have not been specifically tested against our own standards. From tomorrow it will be much easier to use plasterboard manufactured in New Zealand, Australia, UK, Europe and the United States," he said. "This is just the beginning of our work to open the door to more building products, lower the cost of homes and turbo charge the construction sector and there will be more to come." He also announced a pause on "any new major changes to the Building Code system" and shifting instead to a "predictable three-year cycle for Building Code system updates". "This new approach will give businesses the clarity they need to prepare in advance, rather than constantly having to react to unexpected rule changes." The government will be releasing releasing a list of overseas certification schemes that would automatically qualify products for use in New Zealand. Photo: 123RF ACT's Building and Construction spokesperson Cameron Luxton was a builder in 2022 during the plasterboard crisis that saw some builders paying six times the standard price for 'GIB' branded plasterboard. "I had designers trying to get changes to the existing consents so that we could use other types of wall lining ... if we could have recognized overseas plaster boards and the components around their systems, we would have been able to get things built in New Zealand a lot easier and a lot quicker during that time," he said. "Those crazy days of the post-Covid building construction boom with us at the moment but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be focusing on getting the price of all building down." ACT's Building and Construction spokesperson Cameron Luxton Photo: VNP / Phil Smith He said the government's approach was almost exactly the same as what ACT campaigned on. "What we campaigned on was a recognised list of products. The bill came into the house as that, it's been through select committee, we've come out the other side with it being schemes, standards and products. "Minister Penk has done an incredibly good job engaging with the industry and making sure that this bill works - it's so close to ACT's you couldn't find much air between our original policy and this one, it's the same principle, called some different things." Both Labour and the Greens supported the bill through the legislative process. Labour's Building and Construction spokesperson Arena Williams said it was likely to make it easier for building products to get into the New Zealand market, and increase competition - but that doing so was one of the recommendations of the Commerce Commission study launched under Labour. "We think this is an important step, but the government has talked a big game on lowering the cost of building because that's an excuse for absolutely collapsing the building and construction sector and seeing 17,000 jobs lost since the day of the election." She pointed to a range of projects that had been cut - Kāinga Ora public housing, school builds, the downgrading of hospital builds - saying that had directly led to those jobs being lost. Labour's Building and Construction spokesperson Arena Williams. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith The minister was now admitting the solution would not be a silver bullet for the sector, she said. "Now they're saying this will only be part of the solution and it won't do everything that's needed to bring costs down ... they have no answer for a building and construction sector that's on its knees, it's slumped lower than it did in the global financial crisis, and we're seeing thousands of young Kiwi builders going offshore." Announcing the change without releasing the detail until the next day was "an unusual way to do things," she said. Williams said she planed to carefully examine the standards when made public, to ensure they were sensible. Green Party Building and Construction spokesperson Julie Anne Genter took her criticism of the approach further. "We see every week pretty much announcements on a Sunday don't have any substantive new actions or information, and in the last few weeks, it's been related to the building sector or infrastructure, because the government is desperate to turn around the narrative. "This is very much a government that is focused on PR spend more than substance." She said the changes themselves "could be great or it could be terrible, depending on which building products and which licensing schemes they're looking at". "The devil will be in the detail. The detail hasn't yet been released. But I really can say that the government has put the construction sector in a terrible position by cancelling hundreds of projects related to public homes, which we need now more than ever. I saw last month, one third of company liquidations for construction firms, and that was up on last year." She criticised the pause on Building Code changes. "That is a huge lost opportunity. The previous government had a work programme on building for climate change and it was going to address a lot of the issues that we have in terms of energy efficiency, resilience," she said. "The certainty is we're not moving forward with our Building Code, they're providing the certainty that we're going to lag behind most other countries and have a much longer period before we have sustainable, healthy buildings." "Ultimately, this is not enough to help New Zealand with the problems we're facing when they've cancelled so many public home builds." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

European Union parliamentarians in antipodes
European Union parliamentarians in antipodes

RNZ News

time17 hours ago

  • RNZ News

European Union parliamentarians in antipodes

Delegation Chair Seán Kelly represents the Ireland South constituency at the European Parliament. Photo: VNP/Louis Collins New Zealand is a crucial partner despite being on the opposite side of the globe, a visiting Member of the European Parliament said while in New Zealand this week. Six members of the multinational legislature, which has recently signed a Free Trade Agreement with New Zealand, were in Wellington to strengthen inter-parliamentary ties, and relay information about our society and the economy back to Brussels. Parliamentary diplomacy, which is distinct from government-led foreign affairs, is something that New Zealand's Parliament values highly. Connecting with counterparts through both inward and outward engagements gives MPs a platform to foster bilateral and multilateral relationships and exchange knowledge. Delegation chair Seán Kelly represents the Ireland South constituency. He says the European Union is keen to grow its relationship with New Zealand, which is culturally connected despite the distance. "New Zealand is the furthest away from Europe, but at the same time, in all other respects, it's very close to Europe, both in terms of language, in attitude, in democracy, culture, and even listening to the parliament there today, it was very similar to the Parliaments across the European Union." Fostering these relationships with like-minded nation states is even more crucial these days, Kelly said. "There are a lot of challenges globally, and working together with like-minded partners in particular is hugely important now for Europe, especially because of what has happened geopolitically in the world in the last number of years." Coming from New Zealand, with our comparatively small, Westminster-derived legislature, the European Union seems like a bit of a distant and unusual entity - akin to a scenario in which New Zealand, Australia and Pacific Island Nations sharing a common currency, lawmaking body and soft borders. European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen gives a press conference on the 18th package of sanctions against Russia at the EU headquarters in Brussels. Photo: AFP /NICOLAS TUCAT Kelly gave The House a brief rundown of how the EU Parliament works, noting its trajectory from being branded as a "Mickey Mouse Parliament" to now being a highly respected lawmaking body. "Over time, the European Parliament evolved from having almost no powers to becoming a true co-legislator," Kelly said. "[Nowadays] some would say that we have too much power, because if you look at what's happening in national parliaments, it's estimated that around 60 percent of the legislation that's going through national parliaments is now actually transposing what has been decided or voted on in the European Parliament." "Now, that's in the sense that every single country, the 27 members of the European Union, have representation in the Parliament, and the smallest countries like Malta and Luxembourg, they are guaranteed a minimum of six [seats], the biggest country, Germany has 96. So it's very democratic - there is no government there, so everything is done by majority." New Zealand and Ireland are two countries that are often compared due to their similar populations, and rankings on the human development index. The two societies also have the commonality of pursuing language revitalisation efforts - Irish (Gaelic) in Ireland, and Te Reo Māori in New Zealand. Kelly, a keen proponent of the Irish language says the European Parliament's mantra of "unity in diversity" has been conducive to the legitimisation of indigenous languages being used in administrative and legislative contexts. "So I speak Gaelic, I can speak it in the European parliament - you often do - and that's then interpreted into all the other languages. [It's] the same here. You're preserving your languages [in Parliament] here, which is very important for the Maōri. "We have 200 plus Irish people employed in Brussels, either as interpreters or translating documents. Every single document is translated into the 23 official languages, and, Irish, became a working document language just two years ago, and I put down the first ever amendment to a resolution in our native language. So there's a lot of support there for it and [it's] something we appreciate." You can listen to the audio version of this story, along with other coverage from Parliament this week by clicking the link at the top of the page. *RNZ's The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament's Office of the Clerk. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store