Thomas Coughlan05:00, May 05 2021
STUFF
Grant Robertson praises the resilience of the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic in a pre-budget speech on May 4. The timing is unfortunate. Robertson has, albeit in a somewhat more limited capacity, been a Minister of Delivery for a little over a year. In January 2020, he took the lead on the NZ Upgrade Programme, the Government’s $12 billion pre-Covid infrastructure package. More than half of that money, $6.8b, was allocated to transport projects, which the Government has decided it can no longer commit to delivering in the way, shape, and cost in which they were announced. It puts projects like Auckland’s $1.3b Mill Rd, or Wellington’s $817m Ōtaki to North of Levin motorway and $258m Melling interchange in doubt. It appears some of those projects might be scaled back and made more modest, while others could be rescheduled.
Last week Wood confirmed the Government was reviewing estimated costs for the entire programme, including the Mill Rd project. But he refused to answer questions about the projected cost and whether work is still scheduled to start in 2022. Wood said the Government is “working through the cost and scope” of the projects to ensure they still meet key objectives and that costs are managed appropriately.
Chris McKeen/Stuff
Transport Minister Michael Wood refuses to say what the latest cost projections are for Auckland’s Mill Rd, a project originally slated at $1.35b. “Ministers are working through options on how to take the programme forward and an announcement will be made in the coming weeks, he said.
Wednesday, 28 April 2021, 3:30 pm
The Labour government must immediately recommit to
funding the new Melling Interchange after Stuff reported
today that the project is at risk, National List MP based in
Hutt South, Chris Bishop says.
“Hutt residents will
be in disbelief at hearing the news that funding for Melling
is yet again at risk. The project is critical for the future
of the Hutt Valley and locals were explicitly told by Labour
MPs all through 2020 that the project was fully-funded and
due to commence in 2022.
“The government announced
in January 2020 that Melling would be fully-funded as part
of the NZ Upgrade Programme, but now there are news reports
Press Release – New Zealand National Party The Labour government must immediately recommit to funding the new Melling Interchange after Stuff reported today that the project is at risk, National List MP based in Hutt South, Chris Bishop says. Hutt residents will be in disbelief at hearing …
The Labour government must immediately recommit to funding the new Melling Interchange after Stuff reported today that the project is at risk, National List MP based in Hutt South, Chris Bishop says.
“Hutt residents will be in disbelief at hearing the news that funding for Melling is yet again at risk. The project is critical for the future of the Hutt Valley and locals were explicitly told by Labour MPs all through 2020 that the project was fully-funded and due to commence in 2022.
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