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The projects will help reduce emissions and increase the overall liveability and well-being of Hamilton. Photo / Hamilton City Council
Hamilton will receive more than $43 million in additional climate change funding from central government to spend on projects aimed at reducing emissions from the city’s transport.
On Sunday 4 December, the Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency announced that Hamilton City Council will receive a one-off grant of $43.73 million to fund the Transport Choices programme, to help the city reduce transport emissions by changing modes work on active and public transport options.
The grant will fund a range of projects within strategic cycling and micromobility, pedestrian neighbourhoods, public transport and healthy school travel.
Deputy Mayor and Chair of the Infrastructure and Transport Committee, Angela O’Leary, is pleased to see government support for Hamilton City Council’s transport goals.
“Hamilton City Council’s transport strategy, Access Hamilton: Ara Kootuitui Kirikiriroa, sets out a vision for the future of transport in Hamilton and its guiding principles which focus squarely on travel choice, emissions reduction, reduced reliance on private vehicles and inclusivity,” said O’Leary.
“The projects funded by the Transport Choices package will help deliver those significant changes to the way we work in Hamilton, helping us to reduce emissions and increase the overall liveability and wellbeing of our city.”
“It’s fantastic to see our transport strategy and our climate change strategy in line with the overall direction New Zealand is moving in, and we’re very proud to be leaders in this space.”
City Transport and Urban Mobility Manager, Martin Parkes, was also pleased that the funding had been approved.
“Hamilton City Council is fully committed to establishing infrastructure and initiatives that provide our residents and visitors with transportation choices,” Parkes said.
“As a growing city, the environmental impacts of our transport system will become significantly worse in the not-too-distant future unless we ‘build for change’ now – and this funding will help us deliver for our ratepayers at a rate and volume that exceeds what otherwise we could.”
Transport Choices funding is currently indicative until Waka Kotahi works with councils to explore how projects can be progressed in line with Transport Choices timelines. After this consultation, the distribution of funds can be adjusted.
The funding will help deliver the Council’s climate change strategy, Our Climate Future: Te Pae Tawhiti o Kirikiriroa. Hamilton aims to reduce its total emissions by at least 30 per cent by 2030, which includes transport as well as other sources of emissions such as industry and business, waste, homes and agriculture.
In May 2022, the Government released its first Emissions Reduction Plan, Tu hau maarohi ki anamata, which calls for a 41 per cent reduction in transport emissions by 2035. Transport in Hamilton currently accounts for around 64 per cent of the city’s total emissions.
Along with 46 other councils across New Zealand, Hamilton City Council applied for the $350 million Waka Kotahi Transport Choices package to fund over 40 projects, all focused on reducing emissions by moving people around our city more sustainably. A number of these projects have already been supported by Waka Kotahi, having been allocated part of the funding by both the agency and the council.
Projects now covered by this funding will go through public consultation and conceptual design in early 2023, with construction starting in mid-2023 and ending in mid-2024.
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