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Private Bag 6995
Wellington 6141
New Zealand
T
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www.nzta.govt.nz
9 June 2020
Christian Poland
[FYI request #12841 email]
REF: OIA-6667
Dear Christian
Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank you for your email
of 13 May 2020 requesting the following information under the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act):
1.
Al information relating to the decision on whether to toll the new Pūhoi to Warkworth road currently in
construction.
2. All information relating to the decision to not toll the Waterview tunnel after completion.
Pūhoi to Warkworth
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency assesses all new state highways and significant upgrades to existing state
highways for tolling suitability. A tolling assessment is completed to show how the state highway meets that
criteria, including any potential impacts of tolling. The assessment is then presented to Waka Kotahi’s Board to
help them make an informed decision to progress the tolling proposal through the Minister of Transport.
The decision or recommendations made by Waka Kotahi and Waka Kotahi’s Board are based on a toll modelling
report, tolling assessment and a decision paper provided to the Board. The Board will then either agree or not
agree to recommend the state highway for tolling.
As the Pūhoi to Warkworth tolling report, assessment and decision paper to Waka Kotahi’s Board is publicly
available, these documents have been refused under section 18(d) of the Act.
Each document can be located on the Waka Kotahi website at
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/about-
us/consultations/ara-tuhono-puhoi-to-warkworth-tolling-proposal/.
Other information falling within scope of your request includes the 19 March 2020 Board Meeting minutes (where
Waka Kotahi’s Board agreed to recommend the road for tolling) and BRI-1912
Road Tolling Recommendations to
Hon Phil Twyford, Minister of Transport.
As the majority of information contained in these documents falls outside the scope of your request, excerpts of
the relevant information can be located in Attachment 1.
Waterview Tunnel
To provide context to this part of your request, the decision to not toll the Waterview Tunnel was made by Waka
Kotahi’s predecessor, Transit New Zealand in 2007. At the time, tolling was investigated as a mechanism to fund
the Western Ring Route, of which Waterview Tunnel was part. The investigation identified that tolling would be
unlikely to substantially contribute towards construction costs, which were estimated to be as high as $3 billion,
and public consultation signalled a preference to explore other funding models.
A variety of other models were explored, including a Public Private Partnership and tolling combination. The
Transit New Zealand Board made the decision not to toll Waterview Tunnel in 2007 and the tolling was not
revisited when the decision was made in 2010 to fast-track the delivery of Waterview Tunnel. Instead, design was
altered to reduce costs which enabled the project to be fully funded out of the National Land Transport Fund.
Unfortunately, the only document that Waka Kotahi was able to locate regarding the decision made by the Transit
New Zealand Board in 2007 is an April 2007 Board paper that is currently held at an offsite storage warehouse.
Due to the current COVID-19 Alert Level 2 restrictions, Waka Kotahi would be unable to access the file until New
Zealand has safely moved to Alert Level 1.
Waka Kotahi will therefore supply the document to you at a later date and without undue delay.
In the meantime, Waka Kotahi was able to locate the minutes from the April 2007 board meeting. The relevant
excerpt within scope of your request is provided below:
7.
WESTERN RING ROUTE CONSULTATION
ACTION PAPER CS/07/4/5822
BIO-1023
Resolved
That the Board:
a) receives the various consultation output reports outlined in Action Paper CS/07/4/5822 summarising the
outcomes of consultation on tolling the Western Ring Route;
b) resolves as follows with regard to the outcomes of consultation:
i)
not to proceed further with the current WRR toll concept because alternative methods of funding are
preferred by the Region; and
ii)
Transit supports the investigation of those alternative sources of funding to achieve the planning
target for opening end to end the WRR by 2015; and
c) requests the Chief Executive to convey these resolutions to all those who made submissions.
More information can also be found via the following documents held on the Treasury and Beehive websites:
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/default/files/Business_case_for_the_Waterview_Connection.pdf
https://treasury.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2008-08/wcpsg-report-26jun08.pdf
If you would like to discuss this reply with Waka Kotahi, please contact Brigid Jenkins, Lead Advisor System
Operation, by email to [email address].
Yours sincerely
Robyn Elston
Senior Manager System Design
