Crazy
OPINION: Your canine crusader was truly impressed by the almost unanimous support given by politicians of all stripes in Parliament to the recent passing of legislation for the NZ/EU free trade deal.
The National Party has announced it will establish a Pothole Repair Fund to urgently address the state of local roads and state highways.
National’s transport spokesperson Simeon Brown says the policy will see a number of measures introduced to tackle the issue. These include:
“In 2022, over 54,000 potholes needed repair on State Highways around New Zealand, the highest number in ten years,” says Brown.
“Potholes are a safety hazard and have been causing significant damage and disruption to freight and motorists all over the country.”
Brown says the cost of the fund will be met by reprioritising spending within the National Land Transport Programme, including a reduction in expenditure on activities which he says unnecessarily slow traffic down such as speed limit reductions, speed bump installation and the Road to Zero advertising campaign. The funding from those programmes, he says, would go towards the road repair programme.
“National will also introduce new rules for pothole repair on State Highways, including halving the standard response time for pothole repair from 48 to 24 hours, and introducing a requirement for NZTA to undertake renewal and rehabilitation work on at least 2% of the roading network each year, more than double the current rate,” he says.
The National Party policy has already gained the support of the National Road Carriers Association (NRC), which represents truckers across the country.
“Potholes are a continual hazard for road freight deliveries as well as the general public – we’ve seen record numbers of them, and a clear priority to address them is well overdue,” says NRC chief executive Justin Tighe-Umbers.
Tighe-Umbers says NZTA has been stretched and asked to complete everything from modal shift to public transport, rail, emissions reduction, and the Road to Zero campaign, all without the extra budget or people necessary to carry out the changes.
“As a result, the focus on getting the basics right – road maintenance – has clearly slipped,” he says. “The National Party’s policy gives clear direction to NZTA to focus on the table stakes essential for drivable roads.
“It is critical that we not only keep up with the two per cent run rate needed each year to replace the roading asset, but that we actually do more to recover the decades we’ve been falling behind.”
OPINION: The recent Federated Farmers / Rabobank 2024 Farming Salaries Report revealed strong growth in farm salaries over the past two years.
The low unemployment environment is one of the key factors driving on-farm salaries higher over the past 24 months, says Rabobank general manager for country banking Bruce Weir.
Fonterra has appointed a new chief financial officer, seven months after its last CFO’s shock resignation.
A seminar on rural dispute resolution has been organised at Lincoln University, Christchurch this month.
The legacy of Dr Peter Snow continues to inspire as the recipients of the 2023 and 2024 Peter Snow Memorial Awards were announced at the recent National Rural Health Conference.
One of Fonterra’s global customers, Mars is launching an ambitious sustainable dairy plan to work with dairy farmers and cut emissions by 50%.
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