Regional Transport Committee

Open Minutes

Commencing:             Tuesday 15 March 2022, 9.30 am

Venue:                         Via Zoom (Audio Visual Meeting)

Chairperson:               Cr Lyall Thurston - Bay of Plenty Regional Council

Deputy Chairperson:  Cr Jane Nees - Bay of Plenty Regional Council

Members:                    Mayor Steve Chadwick - Rotorua Lakes Council, Commissioner Stephen Selwood – Alternate, Tauranga City Council, Cr David Moore – Alternate, Ōpōtiki District Council, Deputy Mayor John Scrimgeour – Alternate, Western Bay of Plenty District Council, Deputy Mayor Andrew Iles – Alternate, Whakatāne District Council, Jessica Andrew – Alternate, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, Angus Hodgson – KiwiRail (non-voting)

External Advisors:      Brent Crowe – NZ Police Road Safety Advisor, Dan Kneebone – Port of Tauranga Advisor, Glen Crowther – Environmental Sustainability Advisor, John Galbraith – Freight Advisor

In Attendance:            Bay of Plenty Regional Council: Fiona McTavish – Chief Executive, Cr Andrew von Dadelszen, Cr David Love, Cr Kevin Winters, Cr Matemoana McDonald, Namouta Poutasi – General Manager, Strategy and Science, James Llewellyn – Transport and Urban Planning Manager, Lorraine Cheyne – Team Leader, Transport and Urban Strategy, Simon  Bell – Transport Systems Team Leader, Andrew Williams – Senior Transport Planner, Katri Harmoinen – Transport Planner, Amanda Namana – Committee Advisor

                                    External: Cr Gavin Dennis – Whakatāne District Council, Lorreen Hartley – Community Development Advisor, Whakatāne District Council, Mike Faulkner, Bryce Donne, Nick Reid – Principal Planning Advisor, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency

Apologies:                  Mayor Judy Turner - Whakatāne District Council, Mayor Garry Webber - Western Bay of Plenty District Council, Mayor Malcolm Campbell - Kawerau District Council, Mayor Lyn Riesterer - Ōpōtiki District Council, Deputy Mayor Faylene Tunui - Alternate, Kawerau District Council, David Speirs – Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, Helen Rogers - KiwiRail

Please note: This meeting was livestreamed and recorded and can be accessed on Council’s YouTube channel: Regional Transport Committee - 15 March 2022 - YouTube

1.     Apologies

Resolved

That the Regional Transport Committee:

1           Accepts the apologies from Mayor Judy Turner, Mayor Garry Webber, Mayor Malcolm Campbell, Mayor Lyn Riesterer, Deputy Mayor Faylene Tunui, David Speirs and Helen Rogers tendered at the meeting.

Thurston/Chadwick

CARRIED

2.     Public Forum

2.1

Mike Faulkner (resident of Redwood Lane and owner of industrial property within the Tauriko Business Estate) and Bryce Donne (director of Element IMF -  primary developer of Tauriko Business Estate)

Presentation: Tauriko Business Estate bypass options: Objective ID A4057117

Presentation: Tauriko Business Estate Stage 3A and 4: Objective ID A4057119

 

Key Points of Presentation:

·     Had been involved in facilitating a Tauriko bypass since 2004 and although a State Highway 29 upgrade was near selection, considered there was still an opportunity to secure a route similar to the original bypass 

·     Displayed the proposed bypass route and future link road on a map

·     Outlined benefits including multi-modal outcomes and addressing current congestion issues

·     This option also included Ōmanawa traffic, which was not addressed in the current option and was an important future consideration.  The route passed through rural areas, and did not agree that this was a more expensive option than the proposed route

·     The trade route to the Port of Tauranga was a key consideration which needed to be protected and remain resilient.

Key Points - Members:

·     Tauranga City Council supported the State Highway 29 upgrade being completed within ten years and expressed concern over the time it may take to reconsider a new proposal

·     A detailed business case for the long term solution would be presented to the Waka Kotahi Board in August 2022 and there was landowner consultation underway in March, with public engagement in May on the details of the proposal.  This option had been under consideration previously and was found to be more expensive and not perform better than the preferred option

·     Waka Kotahi provided a link to further information on assessments and work undertaken on the southern bypass: Tauriko Network Plan | Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (nzta.govt.nz)

In Response to Questions:

·     A business case for the interim upgrades, separate to the long term upgrades, had recently been completed and would be considered by the Waka Kotahi Board in April 2022

·     An arterial route for public transport access was focused on The Crossing shopping centre and residential growth areas.

 

Items for Staff Follow Up:

·     Waka Kotahi to clarify for members the price difference of approximately 40% of the three options that went out for public consultation and if each of those were less expensive than this proposal.

3.     Declaration of Conflicts of Interest

None declared

4.     Minutes

Minutes to be Confirmed

4.1

Regional Transport Committee Minutes - 5 November 2021

Matters Arising

In relation to Minute Item 7.2 and Resolution 2 that a working party be established to provide best practice process for the Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) review, Members raised the following:

·     Expressed concern that the judicial review of the process used for the National Land Transport Plan (NLTP) development provided some uncertainty and risk for the RLTP  – Waka Kotahi responded that as there was  significant work ahead  and litigation would be slow, the best course of action at present was to continue as per standard practice.

 

Resolved

That the Regional Transport Committee:

1           Confirms the Regional Transport Committee Minutes - 5 November 2021 as a true and correct record.

Nees/Chadwick

CARRIED

5.     Reports

5.1

Chairperson's Report

Presentation: Eastern Bay of Plenty Road Safety Operational Group: Objective ID A4057120  

Chair Cr Thurston, General Manager Strategy and Science Namouta Poutasi and Transport and Urban Planning Manager James Llewellyn presented this item.

Key Points - Members:

·     Noted that running low patronage or empty buses actually increased emissions and highlighted a critical need to increase patronage, routes and volumes of people using buses to make a significant impact on carbon reduction.

In Response to Questions:

·     Travel demand management and behaviour change work was primarily focused on personal travel e.g. education, work and social reasons.  Staff were interested to understand potential opportunities to increase the scope to cover freight/ freight generating movements

·     The review of the Road User Charges (RUC) system was a broad piece of work that would not include dynamic variable road user pricing, although these factors were considered within other pieces of work

·     There was a strong desire to accelerate the provision of the Tauranga City Centre public transport facility as it was central to the CBD development, this still had to follow due process for the business case and evaluation. 

Eastern Bay of Plenty Operational Road Safety Group update

Presented by: Cr Gavin Dennis – Whakatāne District Council and Lorreen Hartley - Community Development Advisor, Whakatāne District Council

Key Points of Presentation:

·     Highlighted the continuing focus on key issues in relation to serious crashes and fatalities – alcohol, speed and driving too fast for the conditions

·     Outlined some of the promotions underway to combat these issues

·     Promotions were also undertaken on safety around driveways for children returning to school as community feedback highlighted concern in this area

·     Detailed concerns the Road Safety Group held around five Waka Kotahi reviews in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and requested cohesive communication and collaboration around these reviews to achieve common goals.

 

Items for Staff Follow Up:

·     Raised the issue of how the Operational Road Safety Groups report/ present to the Committee on more significant issues and requested information on how to form better collaboration in the future

·     Noted that for the work programme updates on page 24-25 of the agenda, work was in progress on items 6-10, therefore requested staff work together with Tauranga City Council to update this information in future reports.

 

Resolved

That the Regional Transport Committee:

1           Receives the report, Chairperson's Report.

Thurston/Chadwick

CARRIED

 

 

5.2

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency Quarterly Update

Presentation: Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency Quarterly Update: Objective ID A4057121  

Regional Manager System Design (Waikato Bay of Plenty) Jessica Andrew and Principal Planning Advisor Nick Reid presented this item.

Key Points of Presentation:

·     Outlined the 30-Year Plan: Baseline Network Version which was a digital tool released on 14 March 2022, with the next version expected to be released later in the year

·     The challenges with the last NLTP highlighted the inadequacies of the current system and a land transport revenue review was underway

·     A new regulatory funding model had been developed to improve compliance and safety outcomes

·     The speed management framework was being updated to implement changes and make it more fit for purpose

·     Waka Kotahi would be taking over responsibility for safety cameras from NZ Police around mid-2023 and was considering a new approach

·     Outlined the results from a survey undertaken on public attitudes to road safety

·     Provided an update on the speed and infrastructure programme and on Bay of Plenty projects and maintenance programmes.

Key Points - Members:

·     Supported being involved in a demonstration of the Baseline Network tool

·     Reviewing the process and the alignment of the RLTP and the NLTP would become an increasingly complex issue to align with Council’s Long Term Plans, the development of the Government Policy Statement (GPS) and any central government changes.  This would be further complicated by the new regional spatial strategies and the national and regional reductions plans and budgets.

In Response to Questions:

·     The development of the 30-Year Plan came out of the existing Arataki 10-year view and was extended out with a longer term direction, whilst also providing a moving 10 year slice

·     Currently the 30-Year Plan only detailed projects that were already committed to and may be integrated with investment planning

·     How to bring future opportunities into the tool was being considered as it could be a shared place where key priorities were known

·     The Resource Management Act (RMA) reform that was bringing in the spatial planning strategies was the overarching piece of work which would address alignment of all the priorities, with the land transport revenue review being a smaller component

·     Western Bay of Plenty District Council had submitted an application to the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund (IAF) for the Ōmokoroa interchange, with  decisions expected late April 2022.

 

Resolved

That the Regional Transport Committee:

1           Receives the report, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency Quarterly Update.

Thurston/Scrimgeour

CARRIED

 

 

 

Chairperson's Report (Continued)

 

NZ Police Road Safety update

Presented By: Inspector Brent Crowe – Bay of Plenty Road Policing Manager

Key Points:

·     There were no fatalities or serious injuries recorded in January/February 2022 in the Western Bay of Plenty

·     There was one serious injury in Murupara which involved loss of control caused by excessive speed

·     Mt Maunganui had one fatality in March 2022 to date, initial investigation showed that this again was due to excessive speed (well in excess of the posted speed limit) and impairment

·     Two fatalities for February/March 2022 in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, likely causes being distraction and restraints, and one serious injury caused by inappropriate speed.  An additional motorcycle fatality appeared to be due to poor judgement or potential lack of experience

·     Rural and state highway locations were still a strong focus, as were impairment due to drugs, alcohol and fatigue

·     Increasing deliberate and aggressive acts were being observed by drivers

·     Extremely High speeds were being observed, particularly on rural roads (30-100km/hour over posted speed limits).  This presented enforcement challenges to the police in being able to apprehend suspects

·     An emerging trend was off-road motorcycle use increasing in urban areas, which included unregistered/ unwarranted trail bikes driven by unlicensed drivers not wearing helmets

·     Supported being part of the process for motorists travelling at safe speeds through roadworks, noted the importance of signage being appropriate and correct for timing of works on each stretch of road

·     Appreciated collaboration with Waka Kotahi and looked forward to regular meetings and updates.

Key Points - Members:

·     Rotorua Lakes Council commended police for their co-operation on a community safety strategy and the collaborative sharing of information.

 

Decisions Required

5.3

Regional Land Transport Plan variation

Senior Transport Planner Andrew Williams presented this item.

 

Resolved

That the Regional Transport Committee:

1           Receives the report, Regional Land Transport Plan variation;

2           Approves the proposed variation to the Bay of Plenty Regional Land Transport Plan 2021-31 to update a funding category to ensure the Activity Management Plans for Tauranga City Council, Rotorua Lakes Council and Whakatane District Council are adequately funded, as intended, through the National Land Transport Programme;

3           Notes that the proposed variation to the Bay of Plenty Regional Land Transport Plan 2021-31 to update a funding category to ensure the Activity Management Plans for Tauranga City Council, Rotorua Lakes Council and Whakatane District Council are adequately funded, as intended, through the National Land Transport Programme is not significant for the purposes of public consultation.

Chadwick/Thurston

CARRIED

Information Only

5.4

Regional Land Transport Plan - Annual Monitoring and Dashboard

Presentation: KPI reporting on the Regional Land Transport plan: Objective ID A4057173  

Senior Transport Planner Andrew Williams presented this item.

Key Points:

·      Previous KPI reporting had been presented via the Annual Report Card.  The RLTP interactive dashboard was in a transitional phase, with further data to be updated before it was publicly available

·      Although there were a number of KPI’s showing insufficient data inputs, almost half were due to a survey delayed through Covid-19 and staff were working with Waka Kotahi and the Ministry of Transport to fill the other data gaps

·      Displayed the 2020/2021 year and demonstrated how to use the dashboard including how to view data from previous years

·      There was currently no transport emissions data available in the dashboard and staff were working with Waka Kotahi and the Ministry of Transport to rectify this, central government releasing the national Transport Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) in late May 2022 may provide a source to do this and could link to work underway with transport emissions work at a regional level

·      The next phase of the project would add another tab with graphs and tables which could be used to understand the trends of KPI’s across time, the baseline and historical data.

Key Points - Members:

·     Commended the tool as a positive step forward in the ability to recognise trends.

In Response to Questions:

·     The tool had potential to develop further, however this was contingent on resourcing and costs.  More comprehensive KPI’s and data sets could be considered within the next RLTP.

 

Items for Staff Follow Up:

·     Confirm what network reliability measures were used and how this was calculated in order to better understand the data.

 

Resolved

That the Regional Transport Committee:

1           Receives the report, Regional Land Transport Plan - Annual Monitoring and Dashboard.

Thurston/Nees

CARRIED

 

 

5.5

The Development of a Transport Emission Reduction Plan (TERP) for the Bay of Plenty

Transport and Urban Planning Manager James Llewellyn and Transport Planner Katri Harmoinen presented this item.

Key Points:

·     The TERP was a timely piece of work and a first step in understanding how the transport system would be decarbonised over time

·     Getting better data to understand the scope of the problem and how to target the most promising initiatives to achieve carbon reduction was critical

·     Noted that central government had announced three months of half price public transport fares on council provided services from 1 April 2022 – 1 June 2022

·     The largest impact on greenhouse gas emission reduction, particularly in the short term was likely to be through mode shift.

Key Points - Members:

·     Tauranga City Council had commissioned BECA to develop a carbon emissions model for Tauranga City, which would be a key input into the TERP and for future thinking in the Tauranga Spatial Plan (TSP).

In Response to Members:

·     It was important in service planning concepts to ensure that buses were able to cope with peak demand travel, and there needed to be a balance between understanding peak and off-peak demand for services.

 

Resolved

That the Regional Transport Committee:

1           Receives the report, The development of a Transport Emission Reduction Plan (TERP) for the Bay of Plenty.

Thurston/Scrimgeour

CARRIED

 

         

6

Verbal Update Opportunity from Committee Members and Advisors

 

 

Mayor Steve Chadwick – Rotorua Lakes Council:

·     Was undertaking a transport study of how people travelled in and out of the CBD, to help inform future planning.

Deputy Mayor Andrew Iles – Whakatāne District Council:

·     Commended David Speirs – Waka Kotahi for meeting with councillors and roading staff and providing information around issues specific to State Highway 30, State Highway 2 and the vulnerability of Pekatahi Bridge

·     Requested continuity of speed reforms across the entire state highway network.

Angus Hodgson – KiwiRail:

·     Acknowledged the benefit of having a connection point through becoming a member of the Regional Transport Committee

·     Confirmed that  KiwiRail would report to the Committee annually, beginning in August 2022

·     KiwiRail would be making a submission to the RUC review and aimed to ensure any changes made in the system were sensible for the overall transport system.

 

Glen Crowther – Environmental Sustainability Advisor:

·     Noted the biggest increase of CO2 emissions in history over the past year, mainly from coal and gas at a global level, and stressed the importance of accelerating local action as transport emissions began to rise again.

 

John Galbraith – Freight Advisor

·     The discussion document, Driving Change: reviewing the RUC system was of particular interest to the freight industry and noted that submissions were closing in April 2022.

 

Dan Kneebone – Port of Tauranga Advisor

·     Reinforced that the Port was continuing to experience congestion issues and was motivated to see progress on investment in the local road networks to address this, particularly for Hewletts Road and Totara Street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 11.59 am – the meeting closed.

 

 

Confirmed 19 May 2022                                                                 

                                                                                   Cr Lyall Thurston

Chairperson, Regional Transport Committee