Budget pressures taking a heavy toll on council roading funds

Financial pressures on road maintenance budgets are hitting Stratford and New Plymouth councils in the back pocket.

Due to ongoing damage to rural roads from forestry trucks, Stratford District Council is looking at an overspend of about $600,000, while New Plymouth District Council is forecasting the need to revise future budgets to cope with rising inflation and projects it deferred due to funding shortfalls.

Reports from both councils, which will also be verbally presented, have been tabled ahead of today’s meeting of Taranaki Regional Council’s regional transport committee.

Of its approved road maintenance budget for the 2022-23 year of about $6.5 million, the Stratford council had spent nearly $1m on repairing roads damaged by forestry trucks, a longstanding frustration for the local authority.

Last year, the council adopted a roading targeted rate, which will mean central Taranaki forestry owners will pay a share of $100,000 a year towards maintenance, as a way to offset the amount spent by council.

Of the nine roads identified in the council’s report which had suffered damage, repairing Puniwhakau Rd had been the costliest, taking $290,000 out of its coffers.

Covering those costs meant the council was ‘‘heading for a significant overspend’’ of between $500,000 and $600,000, the report said.

Meanwhile, the New Plymouth council’s report pointed to a reduced funding allocation from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency for the 2021-24 period, which left it carrying the cost for May and June’s road maintenance on its own.

This, coupled with high inflation connected to construction costs, was likely to require budget increases in the next Long-term and National Land Transport plans in order to catch up with any work put off due to a lack of cash.

Waka Kotahi funding has been a particular bugbear of New Plymouth mayor Neil Holdom, who has been highly critical of the agency for its lack of investment in the region.

He is currently pushing for a nationwide petition on central government road maintenance funding, ahead of the October 14 general election.