Petition aims to drive change on our roads

People in the Far North can now sign a petition that could drive a referendum on the state of New Zealand’s roads.

Te Koukou, the council’s new transport committee, agreed the petition, being circulated around other councils, should be promoted by the council in the Far North.

Spearheaded by New Plymouth District Council, it calls for a citizen-initiated referendum to address funding shortfalls for state highway maintenance. Petition organisers aim to capture the signatures of 10 per cent of the New Zealand electorate to trigger a non-binding referendum.

The idea for the petition was discussed by the nation’s mayors at the Local Government New Zealand Conference in Christchurch held in July and is seen as a vehicle to put pressure on central government to address the state of the country’s highways, and poor capital and maintenance funding that has contributed to the nation’s crumbling road networks.

The petition asks: “Should the New Zealand government fund road maintenance at levels sufficient to reverse the current decline in the average age and condition of our national state highway network?”

The petition is now available for the public to sign at council service centres across the district.

Photo: The petition is a vehicle to put pressure on central government.