Points to make in your submission.

1. 1. We note the announcement on consultation on options for a four-lane expressway
through the Kapiti district. This introduces new options to the long-running
debate around both roading options out of Wellington and connectivity within the
Kapiti district.
2. In the wider context of existing agreements and progress on the Western Link
Road (WLR), resolving the issue of how to progress Transmission Gully (or the
coastal route) should be a much higher priority within the Levin to Wellington
Airport corridor.
3. The WLR in its current form will significantly offload traffic from State Highway
1 (SH1), delaying the need to upgrade the corresponding sections of SH1. This
was one of the points supporting previously agreed funding for the WLR from
Government.
4. Given the apparent difficulties with finding a funding solution for Transmission
Gully (question to Hon Steven Joyce in Parliament, 25 June 2009), it seems
counter-productive to propose new, more expensive options to the MacKays
Crossing to Peka Peka sector.
5. Allowing the WLR to proceed in its current form, along with progress on
Transmission Gully would provide a four lane highway from Wellington through
to Raumati, with SH1 and WLR providing similar capacity through to PekaPeka.
The lower overall cost should allow the projects to be funded and delivered
sooner, enabling the benefits and return-on-investment earlier.
6. There has been a significant investment in the WLR by the Kapiti district, with
more than $30m spent and the major consents granted. This announcement
completely undermines that momentum, delays the start to project work, and sets
back progress within the wider Kapiti district.
7. Getting agreement on the WLR process has been a long arduous process. Re-
opening this debate consigns the Kapiti district to many more years of expensive
consultation through to and likely including court action from disaffected parties
(if the WLR process is anything to go by).
8. The WLR intentions were well signalled for over 50 years, allowing both the
district to plan around it and individuals to make investment decisions. The
options proposed in the expressway consultation are new and significantly impact
individuals who have made decisions in very recent times.
9. The lack of an interchange at Paraparaumu is very surprising. This will impact
significantly on existing businesses, planned investment and even the emergency
services. If it were to proceed as shown, it would also force more traffic onto
local roads to reach the Paraparaumu commercial area.
10. Both of the proposed options in the expressway consultation impact on significant
numbers of residential homes, either requiring acquisition in the coming years
(with shorter term impacts on the ability to resell in the meantime) or through the
likely appearance of a four lane expressway.

2. 11. Many of us have made our most significant investment (our homes) with lifestyle
in mind. The expressway options presented will dramatically impact that lifestyle
for many of us.
12. We implore you to work on behalf of your constituents to reconsider the overall
thinking behind this consultation process. The options presented dramatically
impact large numbers of people on the Kapiti coast either as affected landowners,
or in delaying the benefits from the existing WLR project. We believe the
existing WLR project combined with action on Transmission Gully is a more
economically feasible path which will deliver benefits earlier without undertaking
another lengthy debate throughout the community.