Transmission Gully plan change referred to Board of Inquiry

Transmission Gully has moved a step closer today with Environment Minister Nick Smith referring a vital plan change to an independent Board of Inquiry.


"The New Zealand Transport Agency is seeking changes to the Greater Wellington Regional Freshwater Plan. This plan change, if accepted, will help pave the way for the substantive Transmission Gully plans to be lodged next year," said Dr Smith.


"Transmission Gully is a nationally significant roading project that impacts the greater Wellington region, as well as wider New Zealand. On the recommendation of the Environmental Protection Authority, I am referring this application to an independent Board of Inquiry for their consideration and ultimate decision."


The Board of Inquiry will be chaired by Environment Court Judge Brian Dwyer and board members include Environment Commissioner Russell Howie, resource management consultant David McMahon, Canterbury engineering Professor Alan Nicholson and RMA and tikanga Maori expert Glenice Paine.


"Before the Government streamlined and simplified the Resource Management Act last year, changes to the Greater Wellington Regional Freshwater Plan would have taken years for a decision to be made wasting time and money," Dr Smith says. "A Board of Inquiry process is fair and robust while ensuring a decision on a project of national importance is made within nine months."