44 Bowen Street
Private Bag 6995
Wellington 6141
New Zealand
T 64 4 894 5400
F 64 4 894 6100
www.nzta.govt.nz
11 March 2026
John Armstrong
[FYI request #33538 email]
REF: OIA-20845
Dear John
Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
On behalf of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA), I apologise for our handling of your
request for official information and acknowledge your concerns about the delay in responding.
To clarify, the timeframe for responding to your request has not been extended for the second
time as there is no provision for this in the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act). Unfortunately,
since the initial extension of 16 February 2026, there has been an unnecessary delay, and we
were unable to meet our statutory timeframe obligations under the Act in this instance.
The delay resulted from the management of multiple concurrent requests for similar, but not
identical, information, some of which was being prepared for proactive release. Misunderstanding
then arose regarding the scope of the proactive release and whether the information you have
requested would also be included. This misunderstanding has now been resolved; however, it
significantly contributed to the delay in assessing the documents you have requested that were
not part of proactive release.
By way of an update, I can advise that your request contains 33 documents that outline the
evidence and decision making used to assess safety risks associated with protests and
pedestrian access on the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
Of those documents, the following will be made publicly available on the NZTA website in mid to
late April 2026:
•
Attachment 1: ASM AHB Pedestrian Access Limits
•
Attachment 8: Traffic Management Plan – 31 January 2026 Protest
•
Attachment 25: AHB – ASM Memo – Bridge Vibration R1
•
Attachment 26: AHB – Hikoi 13-11-24 Observations and Inspection Summary R3
•
Attachment 27: Traffic Management Plan – NZ Day Protest March SH1 southbound and
Onewa southbound on-ramp
•
Attachment 28: AHB Asset Management Response – Protest 13-9-25
•
Attachment 29: AHB Bridge Inspection Response – Hikoi 13-11-24
•
Attachment 30: AHB Hikoi Accelerations (6 December 2024)
•
Attachment 32: AHB Applications – OIA-20845
As such, the above documents are refused under section 18(d) of the Act as the information wil
soon be made publicly available.
In relation to event approval criteria, this information is already publicly available on our website
at the fol owing link:
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/roads-and-rail/accessing-our-state-highways/special-activity-types-and-
applications/requests-to-access-the-auckland-harbour-bridge Unfortunately, due to the matters outlined earlier, NZTA is not in a position to provide a decision
on the remaining 24 documents as they are currently undergoing consultation with third parties,
including the Auckland Transport Operations Centre, NZ Police and various event organisers.
I recognise the public interest you have identified and confirm that a response wil be provided to
you as soon as reasonably practicable. We are working at pace to respond to your remaining
request and are hoping to be in a position to provide you with an update on or before 20 March
2026.
Under section 28 of the Act, you have the right to complain to the Ombudsman about the
handling of your request. Information about the Ombudsman is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz. Yours sincerely
Jackie Smith
Manager – Ministerial Services
