The Government’s belated recommitment to a new Melling Interchange in Lower Hutt is a relief, National List MP based in Hutt South Chris Bishop says “This will be a big relief to Hutt Valley residents who were worried the Government would cancel .
Despite the cost blowouts, Hutt South MP Ginny Anderse said the region had come up trumps following the announcement. She was particularly pleased with Melling. “There was a time when it was uncertain [it would get funded]. A lot was being spent supporting businesses. We fought like heck to get this.”
ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF
The Melling Interchange on SH2 in Lower Hutt is one of several projects secured under the $12.8b NZ Upgrade Programme. The Melling project will remove the signal controlled intersection on State Highway 2 which have been blamed for congestion and accidents. It will also involve installing new flood protection for Lower Hutt.
Mould and other issues have closed classrooms at Hutt Valley High School.
Photo: Supplied
Lucy, her last name withheld, a senior student at Hutt Valley High, blames the government. I have been let down, she said at a meeting in the school hall earlier this month which families called to seek answers from the Ministry of Education.
Lucy had just spent the first three days of term two working from home because her classrooms are a health risk. Help has come too late. It is horrendously overdue, she added.
Hutt Valley High s problems are national news. Labour MP Ginny Andersen of Hutt South is using it as an example of chronic underfunding of schools. This is made worse, others say, by a property funding model that confuses the responsibilities of tenants (school boards) and owner (the ministry).
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