Business Central
Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce
Media Statement
26 August 2014
Leave Levin-Airport corridor alone, says Chamber
The Labour Party’s plans to mess with major parts of the Levin to Airport transport corridor if elected would be a
setback for a vital link in the region’s infrastructure, says Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce President John
Milford.
“Stopping the bulldozers on the Kapiti Expressway to look at the design and delaying the December start to Transmission
Gully is not good news.
“We have waited long enough for these projects to start and we do not need further delays.
“They have been decades in the making and I see no reason to believe they are gold-plated or over-engineered. If that’s
what’s required to make them fit-for-purpose, then that’s what we need. They need to last for decades.
“Residents in Kapiti who have gone through considerable anguish over the expressway may now find the designs could well
change again, and that’s not good enough.
“Wellington companies which use the corridor to conduct business would be horrified at the prospect of more changes and
more delays. And people who use it to for work or to travel up the island would be frustrated that even more time could
be added before this project will be finished.
“Instead of talking about undoing or delaying work that has started, perhaps Labour should be talking about what they
would do about the bottleneck at the Basin Reserve. That’s the real problem.”