Dargaville’s Ron Bishop in Victoria Street, Dargaville’s main drag, where he says there is no room for semi-protected cycleways proposed under new council transport connectivity plans.
Photo: Local Democracy Reporting/ Northern Advocate – Tania Whyte

Dargaville residents have hit out at the local council’s plans to improve bike and walking in the town.

Ratepayer Ron Bishop, who presented a petition against connectivity proposals to Kaipara District Council (KDC), said more consultation was still needed via formal meetings for the whole community.

KDC aimed to make it easier and safer for people to cycle and walk around Dargaville’s residential area and town centre using an $8 million government-funded Kaipara cycle network connections project.

Separated cycleways, shared paths, semi-protected cycle lanes and pavement markings were part of the proposals in two different options put forward. And the town of 5000 would to get up to 17 new pedestrian crossings.

Bishop said safer connectivity was fantastic in principle, for junior and senior citizens alike.

However, he took issue with aspects of the proposals and said the council had tried to rush these through without a wider public council meeting or adequate community consultation.

The township needed to get the best value it could from the project through improving current risk areas – rather than working on what was not broken, he said. KDC should instead first work with Waka Kotahi NZTA on Dargaville’s worst intersection – SH12/Normanby Street and Hokianga Road – which was not part of the connectivity proposals.

The intersection, he said, was navigated by children, the elderly and many others across an existing unsatisfactory crossing.

Greenways Trust day programme facilitator Marie Birkenhead agreed the intersection’s crossing was dangerous.

“Every time I see anybody in our community on that crossing I think ‘Oh, they’re taking their lives in their hands’,” Birkenhead said.

Birkenhead works with intellectually challenged people at the trust in the Old Dargaville Post Office at the intersection. She said a trust participant had been knocked off his bike on the crossing while coming back from the town centre.

Intersection traffic regularly exceeded the speed limit and there had been a number of near misses generally too, she said.

The Greenways Trust team on the corner of Dargaville’s Hokianga Road and SH12/Normanby Street. (From left) Helen Flight (facilitator), Tiffany Stimpson, Jeremy Forster, Katy McAteer, Peter Whittaker and Marie Birkenhead.
Photo: Local Democracy Reporting/ Northern Advocate – Tania Whyte

As many as 30 logging trucks traversed the crossing daily, as well as milk tankers, stock trucks, gravel trucks and fertiliser trucks.

Birkenhead and Bishop both said a roundabout or lights would be safer and better use of the KDC connectivity effort.

The Greenways Trust team makes its way back from the town centre to home base at the Old Dargaville Post Office at the SH12/Normanby Street and Hokianga Road intersection.
Photo: Local Democracy Reporting/ Northern Advocate – Tania Whyte

Calvin Thomas is general manager of Northland Transportation Alliance (NTA), which is a collaboration between local government and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency. He said KDC would work with Waka Kotahi NZTA to improve the intersection.

Thomas said changes at this intersection had not been part of proposed transport corridor improvement options as it already had a crossing and was not considered a direct school travel route.

Birkenhead took issue with this. She said the crossing was no longer fit for purpose or safe, with now-prevailing traffic conditions.

Thomas said proposed connectivity routes had been developed to align with the transport choices programme’s goal to support safe, green and healthy school travel.

“The proposed design options provide the most direct routes to schools,” Thomas said.

Thomas said KDC did a month’s targeted communication and engagement with key stakeholders, a Dargaville Primary School workshop, hosted drop-in sessions and invited community feedback.

He said consultation feedback would be presented at a public KDC briefing meeting on 6 September. Community feedback would come after that.

A proposed semi-protected cycleways going through the town centre’s main Victoria Street also drew criticism from Bishop.

“That street’s too busy, the cycleway should bypass the city centre on the river side of Victoria Street, from Countdown in the east to the band rotunda in the west” Bishop said.

Waka Kotahi NZTA urban mobility manager Kathryn King said the government’s $348m transport choices programme was part of New Zealand moving towards a low-emission and climate resilient future.

She did not respond specifically to questions about the SH12/Normanby Street and Hokianga Road intersection.

Waka Kotahi NZTA was working with 46 councils nationally to quickly provide more transport options.

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air