The
ACT Party says money collected through fuel taxes and road-user charges should
be spent maintaining and building roads—not on expensive artworks incorporated
into roading projects.
It
has highlighted the following examples:
·
$630,599 for
the 12-metre Te Manu Rangimaarie sculpture at the Piarere roundabout
near Cambridge.
· $810,000 for the Te Waka sculpture on the Waikato Expressway.
·
$2.238
million on the Ōaro-to-Clarence corridor in Canterbury, including four
pouwhenua, nine tekoteko, tunnel and surface murals, three artwork panels,
artwork at stopping sites and palisade fencing.
·
$1.876
million for five sculptures on Te Ahu a Turanga in Manawatū.
·
$3.7 million
for 35 pou and two taonga artworks on Te Ara Tupua in Wellington.
Closer
to home, the six roadside artworks (mahi toi) on the Pūhoi to Warkworth
motorway extension cost just under $5.5 million.
The
total spent nationally on roadside art is unknown because the NZ Transport
Agency does not separately calculate or publish how much it spends on art and
other amenity features.
ACT
says artworks should instead be funded through voluntary contributions,
sponsorship or local fundraising—not hidden within roading budgets.
It is
also unclear how much local councils spend on roadside art. In August 2024,
LETTERBOX revealed that the Whangārei District Council had spent $104,000 on
the “archway” artwork in the centre of the roundabout at the intersection of
Port Road and Kioreroa Road.
At
the time we said: “It seems incredible that councillors would spend more
than $100,000 on a nice-to-have artwork to beautify a traffic island when they
are proposing to increase rates 17.2% this year, with substantial increases
next year and the year after. They say the rate rises are required because
roading costs have increased!”
The
question for taxpayers and ratepayers is a simple one: Should money collected
and allocated for roads be paying for artworks?
FURTHER INFORMATION
NZ Herald: HERE >>>