Comments on: Climate Defence Tour: Hawkes Bay http://blog.greens.org.nz/2007/05/23/climate-defence-tour-hawkes-bay/ hopping along the corridors of power Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:20:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Kevyn http://blog.greens.org.nz/2007/05/23/climate-defence-tour-hawkes-bay/#comment-27504 Kevyn Wed, 23 May 2007 14:35:05 +0000 http://blog.greens.org.nz/2007/05/23/climate-defence-tour-hawkes-bay/#comment-27504 It is surprisinging that Hawke's Bay is a car-dominated region. In 1947 Labour proposed building a motorway to unite Napier and Hastings. Sixty years later it is still hasn't been completed with all the safety features expected on a motorway. Bob Semple empahasised the fact that the main benefit to be derived from motorways was a 75% reduction in casualties. Typically subsequent politicians became fixated on monumental urban motorways, monuments to themselves of course. And they did this despite the Roading Investigation Committee warning, in 1954, that urban motorway construction should be halted because even if registration and heavy vehicles fees were doubled and all the petrol tax was spent on highways there still would be barely enough highway funds to fix the serious problems with rural highways. For some unfathomable reason the only urban motorways included in the Ministry of Works "ten year regional plans" (1946) that have actually been substantially completed are those in Wellington. And the rest of the country had to lose $500 million of their petrol taxes to pay for the blimin things. It is surprisinging that Hawke’s Bay is a car-dominated region. In 1947 Labour proposed building a motorway to unite Napier and Hastings. Sixty years later it is still hasn’t been completed with all the safety features expected on a motorway. Bob Semple empahasised the fact that the main benefit to be derived from motorways was a 75% reduction in casualties. Typically subsequent politicians became fixated on monumental urban motorways, monuments to themselves of course. And they did this despite the Roading Investigation Committee warning, in 1954, that urban motorway construction should be halted because even if registration and heavy vehicles fees were doubled and all the petrol tax was spent on highways there still would be barely enough highway funds to fix the serious problems with rural highways.

For some unfathomable reason the only urban motorways included in the Ministry of Works “ten year regional plans” (1946) that have actually been substantially completed are those in Wellington. And the rest of the country had to lose $500 million of their petrol taxes to pay for the blimin things.

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