10. SANDRA GOUDIE (National—Coromandel) Link to this
to the Minister of Transport
What progress has been made on replacing the 82-year-old single lane Kōpū Bridge?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister of Transport) Link to this
I am pleased to report that on Tuesday the Prime Minister and I joined 94-year-old George Williams as he turned the first sod for the replacement Kōpū Bridge. The people of Coromandel and Hauraki Plains have waited a long time for this moment. This Government is honouring the commitment made in February in the half a billion dollar jobs and growth package to accelerate roading projects and other infrastructure projects around the country. This particular project has been accelerated by over 12 months.
The $47 million project will employ 50 people on site at its peak, and provide a further 100 jobs in downstream activities supplying material and providing support services. I am sure locals will appreciate those jobs. The project will greatly improve freight and passenger access into the Coromandel region, which will boost the economy and tourism. It will also result in significant time savings of up to an hour, at times, for travellers. This comes on top of other recent announcements, such as the Kamo bypass project, which will provide 80 jobs, and the Victoria Park project, which will provide 300 jobs.
I received much positive feedback yesterday from locals, who are pleased the project is finally going ahead. I also saw the comments of Pipiroa Country Kitchen cafe owner, Sydney Campbell, who said that the sod-turning for the new bridge is a great advance for the whole district—work on the bridge was supposed to have started in 2006 and locals have been taking bets as to whether it would be finished in their lifetimes. I am pleased to report that under this Government, the locals will have a new bridge in 3 years.