Seal Rodney Roads

A campaign to get more roads in nor-west Rodney sealed is underway being championed by Rodney Local Board Greg Sayers.

Details are available at the community web site www.sealrodneyroads.co.nz

Auckland Council has proposed a road sealing budget of $1 million a year. This is enough to seal two kilometres of roads a year. This would mean only 5 of the 500 unsealed roads across all of Rodney would be sealed within the next ten years. No roads in Muriwai, or anywhere else in the nor-west, appear on the ten year road sealing list.

The priority order in which roads will be sealed is published on Auckland Transports website.

The Rodney Local Board wanted the road sealing budget increased to $10 million a year for the next ten years. This would seal one third of Rodney’s most hazardous roads.

However, Town Hall has ignored the Local Board’s request and has only allocated $1 million year in the ten year budget which is currently out for public feedback.

“It is completely unacceptable that the voice of Rodney is not being listened to by the Councillors,” says Mr Sayers.

Mr Sayers says many in the community are angry about the lack of funding for road sealing. In response a community web site has been set up where people can download a pre-prepared submission form containing the reasons why the budget should be increased. People simply need to print it, sign it and post it before 16 March 2015, when public feedback on the ten-year budget closes.

“An increase to $10 a year would mean twenty roads in the nor-west would be sealed, all within ten years, including the Muriwai roads of Taiapa Road, Constable Road and others,” he says.

Rodney Local Board member Phelan Pirrie says new footpaths and better road maintenance are also in their sights.

Mr Greg Sayers says the rate take from Rodney is $62 million a year with $33 million coming directly from the rural sector where road sealing is mostly required. Standard council services such as water supply, sewage and waste water services are not supplied to these property owners unlike most urban Auckland ratepayers.

“People just want a fair deal with a fair amount of our rates to be reinvested back where they are taken from”, says keen supporter Phelan Pirrie.

Greg is asking that all the community get in behind this call demanding a rethink. “This is a community-led campaign and it relies on the power of the people and people flexing their democratic muscle,’” he says. “This campaign wants to stop the siphoning off of our rates. Please visit the web site.”