Who pays for ‘act of God’ that destroyed Sounds roads?

The “act of God” that destroyed hundreds of kilometres of roads in the Marlborough Sounds will likely set the average Marlburian back hundreds of dollars a year for the next 25 years.

It comes as the Marlborough District Council reveals its “emerging preferred options” for restoring access to the Sounds – which is set to cost about $160 million.

The council is working on the assumption Waka Kotahi will fund about half the $160m and ratepayers across the region will cover the rest.

For a typical house in Blenheim, with a land value of $300,000, rates would gradually increase up to an extra $300 a year – when repairs finished in 2029 – and would stay at $300 a year more for another 20 years.

If Waka Kotahi didn’t come to the rebuild party, the average Marlburian could be looking at an extra $520 a year for 20-plus years.

Consultation on the Marlborough Sounds Future Access Study runs until July 11.

Part of that survey will include the sticky question – should people with properties in the Sounds pay for more of the rebuild than the rest of the region?

Marlborough mayor Nadine Taylor says that 60 per cent of properties in the Sounds were owned by people outside Marlborough.

She said the rebuild would be the most significant piece of work during her time as mayor.

Engineering consultancy company Stantec was commissioned to assess the options after the road network was damaged during flooding in July 2021 and August 2022.

The study broke the Sounds into five areas: Rai Valley to French

Pass; Pelorus; the outer Sounds (Kenepuru Rd); Queen Charlotte Drive and Port Underwood.

The options for each, including a “hazard adaption pathway” in case of another disaster, ranged from: road focused, road access, balanced, marine access and marine focus.

The “emerging preferred options” for most of the Sounds, excluding the Kenepuru, was road focused or road access.

Waka Kotahi’s top of the south director of regional partnerships Emma Speight could not give an indication as to what level of funding Marlborough might get.

“We’ve had some of the most significant and damaging weather events our country has experienced, and the infrastructure damage across the North Island has been significant.

“What that means is that the normal budgeting that we do to allow for emergency events is not sufficient.

“So, what we have been doing in partnership with Marlborough, is to work through a business case that provides a really robust assessment of what options exist, give the Marlborough community the opportunity to contribute and see what they are prepared to pay for and what that means to them.”

For more details, see the full article on the Marlborough App.