South Wairarapa District Council has submitted a proposal to the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) to secure a long-term, sustainable funding solution to ensure the future of the highly vulnerable Cape Palliser Road.

Currently the remote coastal road is classified as a Special Purpose Road (SPR) due to its cultural and tourism value and high on-going maintenance costs.

NZTA funds 100 percent of maintenance and repairs for special purpose roads. However, this special status is being removed nationwide in June 2027. Following this, the road will revert back to the standard NZTA Financial Assistance Rate (FAR) of 51 percent, consistent with other local roads across the district.

Mayor Fran Wilde notes that Cape Palliser Road is a nationally significant corridor.

“The road supports tourism and access to nationally important cultural sites, as well as economic activities such as fishing and farming. It services a small local community and is one of New Zealand’s iconic roads. The benefits extend well beyond South Wairarapa but, when the current SPR status expires, the cost burden will fall squarely on our ratepayers.

“We understand that the Government policy change is not in our favour, so we have requested a hybrid funding model, which NZTA have agreed to assess. That would include a split FAR, with increased NZTA investment in the most critical and vulnerable parts of the road,” Mayor Wilde said.

To proactively defend the road, the Council installed EcoReef technology in 2022 and this has proven to be an effective approach to erosion, reducing damage and repairs to the road following severe swells and weather events. A recent resource consent allows for the expansion of this protection to additional high-risk sites.

Mayor Wilde said that local residents and iwi, together with recreational and commercial road users, had been active in gathering information for the business case and she thanked all those involved.

The business case covers the core problems of resilience and prolonged closures, the road’s cultural and economic significance, and the mismatch between national benefits and limited local rates to cover costs.

As well as targeted investment to cover the most vulnerable sections of the road, the submission requests the EcoReef extension, landslip mitigation and emergency response.

ENDS

Media contact: media@swdc.govt.nz