NZ Engine

Source: Radio New Zealand

Economic confidence in Tai Rāwhiti is being lost because of the constant weather impacts on its roading network, a Gisborne business leader says.

Heavy rain and severe flooding swept across the North Island last month, battering communities on the East Coast.

Former chief executive of horticulture company Leaderbrand Richard Burke was calling for a regional and national discussion about long-term transport routes, amid an ongoing cycle of weather events and cleanups.

The chunk of State Highway 2 between Ōpōtiki and Mātāwai closed for two weeks, with 40 worksites along the road including eight spots with severe damage due to slips and flooding.

A convoy had been operating three times a day in both directions; that is Gisborne bound and Ōpōtiki bound, since Monday.

Burke told Morning Report a lot of money had been spent fixing the problems rather than looking at “the core issues”.

“People want to talk about the cost of road closures. But the real cost is a lack of investment coming into the region as a result of uncertainty,” he said.

“We’ve got to start thinking, longer term and bigger picture, around how do we not only resolve the issue, but get the region standing on its own feet again. Because there’s a whole lot of really good stuff that happens down here, but we miss it in all the issues that are being created by poor infrastructure and changing weather patterns.”

Burke questioned whether existing roading routes were still fit for purpose.

“The roading infrastructure that comes into the region was really developed by our forefathers who rode horses and stuck to rivers and those sort of things. Whereas now we’re running big trucks and big equipment,” he said.

“And if you’re building that road today, would you really stick to the same path knowing what the issues were.”

A rethink on alternative routes out of the region was needed, Burke said.

“I’m not underestimating the geological issues that are involved here, because there’s some big hills and some real challenges there. But, you know, unless we start looking at that, we’re not going to get out of the cycle we’re in,” he said.

“We’re just in this cycle of event, of cleanup, of event, of cleanup. And we’re just losing confidence in the region as a result.”

He felt the region was becoming less attractive for future investors due to a lack of certainty and resilience.

“We’ve got some good natural resources down here. We can grow stuff really well,” Burke said.

“But if you can’t be confident of getting stuff out of town or to market, and you can’t attract people here because they feel isolated, then you’re not going to build a decent-sized business.

“So your investment decisions are very different. I think that’s the big cost for the region.”

The government had shown in the past that it was prepared to “bite the bullet” by signing off on unpopular and costly projects, including the Clyde Dam, Burke said.

“Imagine if we hadn’t have done that. It would have cost a lot more now, and where would we be with our power industry,” he said.

“I know it’s a long-term process, but we’ve got to get serious about starting that and put some real attention into it and be brave enough to take some of these projects on.

“Otherwise, we’re not going to move forward.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand