Statement of Proposal

Amendment to Chapter 14 of Rodney District Council Bylaw - Road and Traffic Control and Numbering of Premises

Proposal to Remove Heavy Vehicle Restrictions on Grand Drive, Orewa.

The Council’s Bylaw – ‘Road and Traffic Control and Numbering of Premises’ - Clause 12.1 of Chapter 14, provides that no person shall operate a heavy vehicle on any road in the District where the Council has publicly notified a heavy vehicle restriction and specified it in Schedule 1 of the Bylaw, except for the purpose of delivering or collecting goods or passengers at locations only accessible from that road. Schedule 1 of that Bylaw includes ‘Grand Drive – Orewa’. The Council proposes amending Chapter 14 by deleting ‘Grand Drive – Orewa’ from Schedule 1. If the proposed amendment is made, it will not come into force until the relevant designation for Grand Drive is altered, and the motorway extension from Orewa to Puhoi (ALPURT B2 – the new Northern Gateway) is open for alternate use by heavy vehicles. The effect of the amendment would be that Grand Drive, Orewa will no longer be subject to a heavy vehicle restriction.

Grand Drive, which links Orewa with State Highway 1, was constructed to meet a designation condition under the Resource Management Act (the RMA) for the ALPURT B2 (now the Northern Gateway) toll road. The designation said that the road would not be used by through heavy traffic while ALPURT B2 remained unbuilt. The designation required the Council to use its statutory powers to prevent such traffic from using the portion of the road controlled by the Council (from Maire Road to Centreway Road). In order to comply with that condition, the Council included Grand Drive in the schedule of roads subject to a heavy vehicle restriction, in its “Road and Traffic Control and Numbering of Premises” Bylaw. The amendment to the schedule of roads was adopted under Sec. 158 of the Local Government Act 2002 in December 2005.

The New Zealand Transport Agency proposes to open the new motorway extension to Puhoi (ALPURT B2 – the Northern Gateway) in January 2009. Traffic forecasts indicate that an estimated 115 heavy vehicles per day are likely to use Grand Drive as a diversionary route to avoid the toll on ALPURT B2, if they are allowed to do so. Total forecast heavy vehicle volume for Grand Drive for all uses, including the diversionary traffic, is 260 vehicles per day. Given that ALPURT B2 will be open and available as a new through route, thereby reducing the demand for heavy and other vehicles to use Grand Drive, the Council no longer considers it necessary to retain the heavy traffic restriction. Grand Drive will not need any special provisions in terms of heavy vehicles, and can be used by traffic in the same way as any similar road.

The Council therefore proposes amending the Bylaw to provide for this. Please note that under a separate process, the Council is also seeking to alter the designation to remove the condition which is referred to above. Because these two changes need to occur in tandem, if the Bylaw amendment is confirmed then it will be timed to come into force on or after the designation is altered and only once ALPURT B2 is open to use by heavy vehicles.

See accompanying notice of requirement of Designation 129 (LS4807) of the proposed District Plan

Under the Local Government Act 2002, the Council is required, in making decisions, to identify all reasonable practicable options for the achievement of its objective of making a decision; and to assess those options based on various considerations set out in the Act. In this case, the heavy duty restriction on Grand Drive, imposed by the Bylaw, is already in place. The only available option for removing that restriction is to amend the Bylaw in the way proposed. The Council does not consider that it is appropriate to retain the heavy vehicle restriction once ALPURT B2 is open. This is because of the low vehicle numbers involved, minor effects, if any, and safety considerations. Under section 155 of the Local Government Act 2002, before making (and therefore amending) a bylaw, the Council must determine whether a bylaw is the most appropriate way of addressing the perceived problem. If it is, then the Council must determine whether the proposed bylaw is the most appropriate form of bylaw and whether it gives rise to any implications under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.

The Council’s view is that once ALPURT B2 is open, with the significantly reduced demand for the use of Grand Drive by all vehicles, there will no longer be a “problem” which requires addressing by bylaw. In those circumstances it is appropriate to amend the Bylaw to remove the restriction. (This assumes that the designation can be similarly amended to delete the condition which requires the restriction.)

The Council therefore considers that the amendment is the most appropriate way of addressing the matter. The form of amendment – deleting ‘Grand Drive – Orewa’ from Schedule I is the only feasible way of achieving that goal. The amendment is consistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act, because what is arguably a minor restriction on freedom of movement is being removed once the justification for that restriction no longer exists. This proposal is open for submissions by interested persons under Sections 83 and 86 of the Local Government Act 2002 for a minimum period of 30 days from the date of publication of this notice. Copies of this proposal and summary information are available from the Council offices at 50 Centreway Road, Orewa.

Click here for a submission form.