Pothole politics welcomed

National has pledged to establish an additional $500m Pothole Repair Fund and the Government responded saying previous underinvest by National led to the "crisis", with the debate around road funding welcomed by a transport industry representative and the Ashburton District Council. SUPPLIED

Renewed debate around boosting road maintenance funding has been welcomed by Ashburton's deputy mayor and the trucking industry.
The National Party has pledged to establish a $500 million Pothole Repair Fund to “urgently address the shocking state of our local roads and state highways”.

Its transport spokesperson Simeon Brown said the fund would come from re-prioritising spending from existing initiatives, such as de-funding blanket speed limit reductions or the Road to Zero advertising campaign.

However Transport Minister David Parker hit back at National's announcement, saying the pledge was “funding to fix a problem that they created themselves” and that the Government was already spending more on road maintenance than any previous government.

“This Government inherited a road maintenance crisis. National chose to freeze road maintenance funding during its time in office in order fund high-profile new highways.”

Mark Wareing, the director of the Wareing Group which incorporates Philip Wareing Limited, Rural Transport and Wilson Bulk Transport, says the roading network is in poor shape and a funding boost is required. PHOTO JONATHAN LEASK/ASHBURTON GUARDIAN

Maintenance spending on all roads, including local roads, had increased by 54% under the Labour-led government and all National was proposing is a “giant pothole” in the transport budget, Parker said.

“The drivers are saying the roads are getting worse. The investment hasn’t kept up with the cost of maintaining them.

“Transport, trucks in particular, pay a lot of their operating costs through road user charges to maintain and improve roads, so it’s disappointing when so much is siphoned off and put into projects in the North Island.

“Mid Canterbury people can feel short-changed by the lack of investment locally, even though local transport operators have paid their fair share.”

The National Land Transport programme now has to fund other modes of transport rather than just fixing roads, Wareing said, and the debate is where the money is spent.

“The reinvestment hasn’t been going into the roads.”

You don’t have to tell Ashburton District councillors that potholes are a major problem.

Deputy Mayor Liz McMillan said it tops the list of complaints from the community every year.

The issue is funding - specifically, not getting enough of it to get enough done, she said.