Subscribe to RSSWaterview Application With EPA
NZTA’s application for the $2 billion Waterview Connection on State Highway 20 has arraived at the Environmental Protection Authority.
The government’s new one-step process overseen by the Environment Protection Authority, or EPA, requires a decision within nine months with limited appeal rights.
The other application in under the new system, the national consenting option provided in the first phase of the Government Resource Management Act reforms, is for Contact Energy’s $1 billion Tauhara II geothermal station near Taupo.
Over the next 12 months, the authority’s expecting applications concerning six other major infrastructure projects, including Transmission Gully in Wellington and the Stage 2 motorway in Christchurch.
The expected total infrastructure investment being considered by the EPA during this term of Parliament is worth more than $6 billion.
Environment minister Nick Smith says this fast tracking is a change from the time it has taken big projects in the past - the Wellington Inner City Bypass taking 15 years, the Whangamata Marina taking 12 years, the Northern Gateway taking 10 years and the Wairakei geothermal expansion taking six years.
2 Comments
Thats great, time we applied it to the CBD Tunnel Route.
Bah, that is clearly only of Auckland significance, so no need for fast-tracking