“When compared with other councils, Timaru District Council has been previously under expending in this area,” the report says. “We have developed a road improvement programme which will reduce reactive maintenance, reduce faults, and increase customer satisfaction.” Figures provided to
Stuff show that between the 2015-16 to 2019-20 financial years, Council expenditure on maintenance, renewal and new footpaths jumped from $1.22m per year to about $1.9m per year. However, since 2018, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has made extra funding available for footpath maintenance and renewal. The report also notes that there is significant public interest in the condition of footpaths, as “customer satisfaction form surveys show this is a key need – as does fault identification”.