Monday, 11 October 2004

UF MP’s: Re-direct road funding to Wgton, Tauranga

Ohariu-Belmont MP, Peter Dunne, and Tauranga-based MP, Larry Baldock, say the weekend’s local body elections have thrown up one obvious message; Aucklanders don’t want to spend money on roads while the people of Wellington and Tauranga do.

“The real mayor of Auckland, Dr Bruce Hucker, has already announced the eastern corridor motorway won’t go ahead while the elected mayor, Dick Hubbard, wants a lot more reviews and studies and other work done on preparing for public transport modes,” the two men said.

“Meanwhile, the billions of dollars the Government has committed to relieving Auckland’s snarled traffic problems lie around doing nothing when they could easily be re-directed towards New Zealand’s most important export port at Tauranga and New Zealand’s most vibrant city, Wellington.

“When our Auckland friends eventually make up their minds on what they really want, we’ll be happy to support them, but in the meantime we’d be grateful if they’d relinquish their hold on the central Government funding so the rest of the country can get on with the job of modernising our transport infrastructure and helping New Zealand make real progress,” they said.

ENDS

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