After a five-year gestation the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission has come up with draft National Infrastructure Plan and is looking for feedback.
New Zealand’s infrastructure — roads, pipes, schools, power lines, hospitals and much more affect all of us, every day. The Commission reckons when compared to other high-income countries, we spend more per person on this infrastructure, but are in the bottom 10 percent for the value we get from that spend. That means we need to get smarter about how we invest and make some tough decisions.
It says the plan tackles a problem New Zealand has seen for decades: our infrastructure investment and governance system isn’t delivering the outcomes needed for a modern, growing, and resilient society, despite high levels of spending.
The plan sets out to show “where our infrastructure dollar will have the greatest impact in meeting New Zealand’s future needs.
The plan looks at what’s underway and what we’ll need over the next 30 years as our population grows and gets older, demand for renewable energy increases, and the infrastructure we already have has to be repaired and replaced.
It also shows what we should be spending and makes recommendations for how we can get better results from this investment.
The recommendations in the draft plan focus on four areas:
- Establishing affordable and sustainable funding. We spend a lot on infrastructure, but it’s challenging to keep up with rising costs and to balance with other demands for taxpayers’ money. This means we need smarter ways to fund what we build and look after the draft.
- Clearing the way for infrastructure. Complex rules, changing policies and poor coordination make it slow and expensive to get things built. It also makes it hard to increase the workforce to build and maintain what we need over the long-term.
- Starting with maintenance. Too often we prioritise new projects while the infrastructure we already have runs down. In the long run, this leads to higher costs and can make services unreliable.
- Right-size new investment. We often launch major infrastructure projects before they’re ready, without proper planning or being clear on how we’ll pay for them. This can lead to delays, projects costing more than expected, and communities not getting all of the services they need.
The commission says it need feedback on what is very much a “draft” plan. We need your feedback to see if we’re on the right track.
The draft plan sets a logical, reasonable path to progress, past the drastic swings we see in the infrastructure work programme when new governments are elected says Civil Contractors New Zealand Chief Executive Alan Pollard.
“The plan’s recommendations should enable central and local government clients to improve how they consider, fund, finance and deliver the vital roads, water networks, hospitals and other vital infrastructure we depend on, as well as providing visibility on infrastructure project needs.
“Historically, there has been a lack of priority around maintenance and renewals. But a stable long-term programme of maintenance, renewals and new infrastructure works will better serve our communities. The plan sets appropriate priorities around this.”
The plan also sets out some of the solutions, including better funding for maintenance, tools to streamline delivery, more sustainable funding pathways and right-sizing new investment.
Pollard welcomed Minister Chris Bishop’s comments that central government is going to take a better look at its own capital-intensive government agencies, which will be held accountable for their assets going forward.
“Noting that the government owns around 40 percent of our total infrastructure stock, the public sector must build knowledge of what infrastructure assets it owns. Many do not have asset management plans. Others are in a position where they deliberately ‘sweat’ their assets.
“We have a valuable opportunity to move past this, toward nation-shaping decision-making built on consensus, which will provide more surety in upcoming work and provide real return on investment,” says Pollard.
There are different ways you can provide feedback.
- Complete an online feedback form and tell us what you think of the recommendations in the Plan and let us know if we’ve missed anything. The form should take between 10-15 minutes to complete.
- Alternatively, if you want to provide more in-depth feedback, you can submit a document using our upload form. A template is available to structure your feedback.
