The precarious state of Coromandel’s roads and the effects on key industries like tourism were hot topics as local business leaders met last week in Thames with Transport Minister Michael Wood.

Wood spent time with Thames-Coromandel District Mayor Len Salt, and inspected weather event-affected sites before meeting with business owners from the district, listening first hand to their frustrations over the region’s beleaguered roading network.

Wood said he “had a really good session with a range of business people from around the peninsula. To understand the issues and start talking about the things we need to do to access core services — they relayed how much they are hurting”.

Many in the community are anxious about having a reopening date for SH25A set in stone as the region’s economy takes a battering, but the minister could offer only the reassurance of Waka Kotahi’s commitment to getting an expedited solution to the gaping hole in the main access road.

”We’ll be putting a huge focus on 25A,” said Wood, who defined his role in the reconstruction advisory group as one that works with other ministers and local government to deliver roading infrastructure in a timely fashion. He stressed that while central government was invested, ”this is a locally led recovery, but we want to know how can we help, how can we support, is there additional resources we can bring in?”

Three project options are being considered for SH25A, and Wood said the preferred option will be identified by May, “and we will get on with building, and turn every stone to have it open as soon as we can”.

Wood tempered the notion of rapid acceleration by saying there has not been an opportunity to start work on the project.

“The road was moving for eight weeks and we [Waka Kotahi and Higgins Engineers] are still doing geotechnical testing. Decisions are expected soon. We believe it is important to restore the core network for economic and social life to continue, but it would be wrong to rush this and build something to a poor standard that is prone to the same issues — no one would thank us for doing that.”

Transport Minister Michael Wood met with the TCDC and many local business and tourism operators in Thames last week. Photo Jim Birchall

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“I cannot give a guarantee we will be open by December, we need to be honest with people about that.”

Pressed on the idea of a fully managed retreat from the damaged SH25A site, which would involve the co-ordinated movement of infrastructure away from risks presented by the road and the relocation of the main access route from Kopu to Hikuai, Wood said “sometimes your option might be you build higher, to a higher standard and relocate where a particular bridge or stretch of road is. So that isn’t a full managed retreat where you are withdrawing services from that area, but it may be a recognition of the fact you are facing higher risks.”

“I think with many of these connections, that is the zone we are in, and we need to make sure we provide access to these communities but think about how we do it, because if we just build in the same place at the same time, you mind find you are repeating the same problems every few years.”

Getting the Coromandel moving again is a priority for the Government, and Wood said “there is no lack of resource, there is no lack of money. We have put $250 million into Waka Kotahi and we will put more in to ensure critical loads like this are done”.

He said the funding is to develop a “really strong focus on the need for transport connectivity, and the need to support businesses who have gone through an exceptionally difficult time”.

Secondary ongoing issues with State Highway 25 and the closure of Tapu-Coroglen Road present a bigger logistical problem for the rebuild given traffic load would have to be restricted for any work to take place, effectively cutting off the only roads available for locals to navigate their way around the district.

Wood said contractors were working right around the peninsula on SH25, and multiple areas had issues. “Teams are continuing to actively work on those, but sometimes that will be the case [where travel is disrupted through closure] We will work closely with the community to minimise disruption and get things up and running as soon as possible.”

Mayor Len Salt was asked what he and local business owners involved in the advisory group took from the meeting and the minister’s visit.

“It was very useful, I have been talking to the business community, and it was good to make that connection and for the minister to hear directly about the effects. There is always a level of frustration we want things moving faster, but we won’t know until all geotech work is done.

“The sheer scope of what is ahead of us is quite humbling.”