Budget 2025: Taumarunui Rail Yard Ready For Economic Rebirth
Mayor Weston Kirton says its a turning point for the central North Island town.
The removal of the last derelict Auckland Transport train carriage from the Taumarunui rail yards clears the way for new economic development opportunities, the Ruapehu district mayor says.
Mayor Weston Kirton says it's a turning point for the central North Island town.
'Not only does it address a long-standing concern for the community, but it also opens the door for us to fully explore the economic potential of this strategically important site,' Kirton said.
More than 50 scrapped carriages were relocated to Taumarunui in 2016 by Auckland Transport while awaiting sale or repurposing.
Kirton, a long-time rail enthusiast and active member of the Taumarunui Rail Action Centre, advocated for the carriages to be reused or re-purposed wherever possible.
But they were left to deteriorate, creating an eyesore that frustrated locals and limited the potential use of the rail yard area.
'It was disappointing to see the carriages deteriorate to the point that some had to be scrapped,' he said.
'Their poor condition made removal increasingly difficult and costly, requiring major engineering work to move them by rail, while transport by truck was also prohibitively expensive.'
Kirton said the timing of the final removal was useful, coinciding with the Government's Budget 2025 commitment to investing $461 million into the national rail network.
The investment would put the spotlight back on regional freight and infrastructure, Kirton said.
'With the new pet food factory in Taumarunui ramping up production, our rail yards could once again play a vital role in enabling efficient, reliable, and low-carbon freight services.'
Kirton said the Taumarunui rail yards had historically been central to the district's economy, transporting timber, livestock, and agricultural products.
'There's real potential for them to do so again in a way that supports modern industry and sustainability.'
Ruapehu District Council had been working with stakeholders and regional partners such as Accelerate35 to explore how the site could best be used to support long-term economic growth and local employment, Kirton said.
'This is an opportunity for Taumarunui to re-establish itself as a key player in regional logistics and rail-enabled development. Council is keen to hear from any businesses or industry who would like to explore this opportunity.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
What will private schools be spending extra Budget money on? David Seymour says he's ‘open' to giving more funding
The multi-million dollar funding boost, announced in Budget 2025, is being driven by Associate Minister of Education David Seymour. He says the amount of money private schools receive has been shrinking, with the last increase to the subsidy coming in 2010. The list of schools receiving the increased subsidy for 2026 will be made available next month by the Ministry of Education. Seymour also says he's 'open' to the idea of the pot growing even more and explains that children at private schools receive around one-tenth of the funding of public-school students. 'Is that fair? Their parents are taxpayers, they're New Zealand citizens, they're entitled to an education. I think in a fair world, that would be higher,' Seymour told the Weekend Herald. St Cuthbert's College principal Charlotte Avery began working at the school in 2024 after moving to New Zealand from England. With a roll of 1650 students, St Cuthbert's College is set to receive an estimated $1.6 million subsidy from the Government. The amount has increased by $160,000 on the previous per-student rate. Principal Charlotte Avery, who took on the leader's role at St Cuthbert's last year after shifting from a prestigious private girls' school in Cambridge, England, says in real terms the subsidy isn't a large payment at a $100 increase per student. 'We are grateful of course for that recognition, but in the end it's a very small part of supplementing our fee income,' Avery says. 'We recognise that we are a school of privilege – privilege is not a dirty word but it is important in terms of recognising responsibility.' Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (left) and Associate Education Minister David Seymour, who says families are often making big sacrifices to pay independent school fees. Photo / Mark Mitchell At co-educational private school Scots College in Wellington, headmaster Graeme Yule says the funding increase is 'well overdue'. He also argues it shouldn't become an ideological debate. 'It's much, much easier to cry elitism and to cry inequality but the facts don't match that, the finances are different,' Yule says. 'There will always be a perception in this that the Government's robbing the poor state schools and giving the money to the rich independent schools ... but we receive around $40 million in government subsidy and we pay GST on fees to the Government of around $150 million.' That tax on fees, Yule says, can be invested back into the state sector to support public school students. Public versus private school funding Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) president Chris Abercrombie, however, sees another reason for the Government making this decision. 'Well, David Seymour's [Epsom] electorate has a lot of private schools in it,' Abercrombie says. In Abercrombie's view, the Government's focus should be firmly on supporting the public education system, and if parents choose to send their child to a private school then the state shouldn't subsidise that decision. 'We don't support private schools getting any subsidy at all, let alone an increased subsidy,' he says. A view of St Cuthbert's College in central Auckland. The private school is one of New Zealand's best-performing for academic results. Photo / NZME Figures provided by the Ministry of Education reveal the subsidy for Years 1-6 at private schools will be rising to $1016 per student – a 20% increase. That amount has increased by $167 per student. Older students from Years 11-13 will receive $1918 per student - an increase of just 6%. Subsidy rates will not be recalculated each year but will be treated like other state school resourcing, with adjustments made for the number of students on private school rolls. But Seymour says his decision hasn't been influenced by private schools in his electorate, one of the country's wealthiest, and the PPTA is 'just flinging mud'. In comparison, figures given to the Herald by Seymour's office reveal the amount for Years 1-6 at state schools is $7648 per student annually, while the funding for secondary schools in the state system is $9853 per student. Funding cuts to public schools At a small Porirua school nestled in native bush on the edge of Cannons Creek, principal Lynda Knight says she has been facing a list of government funding reductions during the last six months. The school's funding has been cut for its Reading Recovery programme, Pasifika Early Literacy Project and the Pacific Education Innovation Fund. Funding has also been cut to Regionally Allocated Professional Learning and Development and te reo Māori training for teachers, so the school can no longer acquire these supports. And there is no longer access to Resource Teachers of Literacy and Māori. They have also lost a whānau liaison support worker role that was funded by Oranga Tamariki. Knight says the school, with just 110 primary-age students, can't hold big parent and community fundraisers as some affluent areas can, and any fundraising initiatives only bring in small amounts of money. 'I think we're increasing that disparity if we're increasing the funding [for private schools]; we must be decreasing the amount of money for public schools like mine,' she says. Abercrombie says disparities between public and private schools are creating a growing divide between the 'haves and have-nots'. Differences in the resources available to schools are exacerbating inequity across the education system, he says. 'State schools are facing that same cost pressure, their power's gone up and the price of toilet paper – they're hurting as well. But they don't have the ability to just increase their fees and tap into other sources of income that private schools do.' What the money will be used for? In Wellington, Yule says the private school subsidy is going to be used to keep fees as low as possible at Scots College and increase accessibility for the school. It will also go towards running costs. Dilworth School in central Auckland is receiving the subsidy but because of its unique position with every student funded fully through a scholarship, the funds will be used elsewhere. Dilworth School in Epsom, Auckland provides full scholarships to its students. Photo / Dean Purcell The money at the boys' boarding school, headmaster Dan Reddiex says, will instead go towards offsetting the cost of food for students, investing in teachers, driving academic results and funding extracurricular activities such as sending their premier choir Fortissimo to the Big Sing Finale in Dunedin. The school's whānau community is not typically in a position to fully fund school trips, he says. 'We provide seven meals a day for our students and inflation has hit hard in this area.' Meanwhile, Avery says the subsidy will support a range of ongoing projects at St Cuthbert's College. These include enhancing its suite of facilities, improving flood resistance in the school's buildings and paying teachers and staff members' salaries. It will also contribute to improving its outdoor campus – Kahunui – in the Bay of Plenty, a place where Year 10 students travel to attend a month-long school camp that embraces off-the-grid learning. At Knight's school in Porirua, Year 6 students used to travel to El Rancho in Waikanae – 45 minutes up the road – for a two-night camp. However, now that community funding is unavailable, the future of camps for their senior students is uncertain. In a community where family holidays are a rarity, Knight says pupils leaving often comment that school camp is their favourite memory from school. Growing waitlists for private schools As Auckland grows, St Cuthbert's College has been experiencing higher demand for places on its school roll and has waiting lists for prospective students. Scots College has also been facing similar pressure, with headmaster Yule noticing parents are being propelled to private schools by their feeling of unease in the current state system. 'The issues with literacy and numeracy, open-plan classes and the dissatisfaction with NCEA and so forth, I think, have driven a number of people towards considering independent schooling.' At Dilworth, Reddiex says demand for places has also increased significantly within the past two years, with scholarship places being highly competitive. Avery says the subsidy is a recognition of the role independent schools play in educating a percentage of the Kiwi population, which takes the financial pressure off the rest of the education system. Similarly, Seymour says private school students suddenly flooding into the state sector would create an enormous cost for the Government. 'This whole debate to me says something about where we are and where we could be as a country. What you've got is a small group – about 4% of children and their parents and grandparents – often making big sacrifices to pay independent school fees because in their view, that's a better future for them,' he says. 'Rather kind of sneering, resentful tone, we should say, 'okay, that's a choice people make', I may or may not make it for myself, but we should be happy for other people. 'Those people are actually saving the taxpayer a lot of money.' In Porirua, Knight believes the $160,000 increase St Cuthbert's College is receiving could make 'a world of difference' at her small school. She says the money would go towards funding two more teachers or more teacher aide support. Eva de Jong is a New Zealand Herald reporter covering general news for the daily newspaper, Weekend Herald and Herald on Sunday. She was previously a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle, covering health stories and general news. Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- NZ Herald
Mayor's water services affordability plea rejected by Ruapehu District Council
Ruapehu was among the most economically disadvantaged districts in New Zealand, with many households 'already stretched to breaking point by the cost-of-living crisis'. 'All of this term we've acknowledged this reality, especially for Māori communities. Yet today, some are still prepared to back the most expensive option on the table, a position I cannot understand.' Kirton said the two-council model would almost double the Department of Internal Affairs' (DIA) affordability benchmark that water costs should not exceed 2.5% of median household income. He also cited new information since the original July 9 decision, including a requirement from the Water Services Authority - Taumata Arowai to bring forward costly wastewater treatment upgrades previously delayed for affordability reasons. The Whanganui council had rejected price harmonisation, which would have shared costs evenly across both councils. 'There is nothing in the two-council arrangement for Ruapehu except ability to increase our debt headroom to borrow more for upgrades our people cannot afford.' In the public forum, Ngāti Hāua Iwi Trust spokesman Kuru Ketu said the council's role was to make decisions about water services and infrastructure, not water itself. Making a decision on the basis of 'keeping the catchment together' was 'statutory overreach'. 'The relationship and union of the catchment is whakapapa-based and now protected and provided for by Te Awa Tupua legislation. The catchment will remain together regardless of Local Water Done Well arrangements.' Ketu said 70% of Māori in northern Taumarunui ranked among the most deprived in the country. If people could not pay their bills, the council controlled organisation (CCO) could not function. The trust backed a larger multi-council entity for its greater borrowing capacity, cheaper debt and stronger buying power. Deana Wilson, representing Ngāti Rangi, supported the two-council decision, highlighting iwi connection to waterways and the link between water health and community wellbeing. She said collaboration was key to finding solutions to the region's wastewater treatment challenges. Ratepayer Marama Laurensen urged councillors to focus on practical realities such as cost and community impact rather than personal or emotive views about the river. 'I don't expect councillors to be carrying that particular responsibility. People elect you to deliver service to the community, not to use this table as a platform for your point of view or your feelings.' Laurensen said affordability was critical in a deprived community. Without it, 'you don't have the luxury of having wellbeing', she said. Kirton said the decision came down to a moral and financial duty. 'Do we protect our people from costs they can't afford, or do we lock them into a model that will take money they simply don't have?' Councillors Brenda Ralph and Janelle Hinch backed Kirton's position. Ralph warned higher charges would hit tenants, homeowners and businesses alike, forcing some residents to move away. Hinch said expert advice showed larger multi-council models were the most cost-effective, and warned the two-council option could be unviable for Ruapehu and risk being overturned. River protections were enshrined in legislation, and whakapapa to the rivers would not be severed, she said. Continuing with the two-council model would cause unnecessary hardship. Councillor Robyn Gram originally voted to join a larger model but on Wednesday withdrew her support. Deputy Mayor Viv Hoeta stood by her original vote for the two-council CCO. She said she valued the democratic decision already made and the partnership agreed to by both councils. The case for affordability was based on assumptions rather than facts, she said. Councillor Lyn Neeson said she struggled to see how $1000 extra would be imposed on ratepayers. 'I'm deeply concerned that the conversation over the past fortnight has put serious fear into our ratepayers that it is going to be unaffordable to live in Ruapehu.' Neeson said all councils' water rates would rise. 'The water improvements have to be made. They were unaffordable, that's the reason they weren't made. Now we have to make them.' A higher borrowing cap, cheaper debt and more buying power were not exclusive to the larger multi-council model, she said. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
NZ Herald
07-08-2025
- NZ Herald
Mayor demands U-turn on ‘totally unaffordable' Ruapehu water plan
'Ruapehu has the highest levels of deprivation in the country. Continuing with the current model will drive unacceptable and unnecessary financial hardship.' He has formally asked councillors to revoke the July resolution and instead join a four or five-council option with the Palmerston North, Horowhenua and Rangitīkei councils and Whanganui, if it wished to join. The larger groupings would deliver significantly lower water charges for ratepayers, Kirton said. The council voted 6-4 on July 9 to reject the officer-recommended four-council model. Kirton and three councillors were in favour. The bid to overturn the decision comes after new affordability guidance from the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA). Kirton said the advice showed the decision would increase all Ruapehu water bills well above what was considered affordable. In the first year of the two-council entity, charges would be nearly $2500 per household – almost $1000 more than under a five-council model. For affordability, the DIA recommends water charges stay under 2.5% of median household income. Updated financial modelling shows Ruapehu would breach that benchmark under the two-council arrangement. 'Totally unaffordable' For the poorest households, particularly in northern Ruapehu, water charges could climb to nearly 6% of median household income within 10 years – more than double the threshold. 'These costs are totally unaffordable for many of our people and will be especially severe for Māori communities.' New regulatory requirements would further increase cost pressures, Kirton said. National water regulator Taumata Arowai has told the council to bring forward upgrades to its non-compliant wastewater plants sooner than planned. This meant water charges under the two-council model were forecast to rise to $2800 per connection within a few years and reach more than $4000 by 2033/34. The estimated cost for the upgrades ranged from $66 million for wastewater dispersed to water, to more than $200m if dispersed to land. River protection Kirton said he was not rejecting Whanganui or the many constructive partnerships between the two districts. 'We have strong and ongoing collaboration with Whanganui across multiple areas, such as the Mountains to Sea cycle trail and economic development, which will continue regardless of our water services structure.' A five-council model would deliver the lowest possible user charges for all water users, the greatest operational efficiencies, and align the Whangaehu and Whanganui river catchments under a single regulator and service provider. Existing commitments to river protection and shared services would not be compromised by moving to a larger model. Kirton said some councillors had downplayed financial concerns, arguing that affordability could be addressed by the new entity or the Commerce Commission. 'At our workshop this week, the only proposed solution to unaffordable charges was 'writing a letter to the Minister'. That's not good enough. 'I'm not prepared to defer responsibility and hope someone else sorts it out. This is our chance to act decisively and protect the people of Ruapehu from excessive costs.' 'Blood out of a stone' Councillor Fiona Kahukura Hadley-Chase told Local Democracy Reporting she thought it unlikely the decision would be overturned. She was unconvinced by the cost projections. 'There's no clear data, information or evidence. The modelling, the forecasting and the legislation keeps changing. They're plucking figures out of the sky. 'Because of that, I'm going to say the relationship with Whanganui must stay strong. If we don't have that, then we're paddling upstream.' Hadley-Chase said the district's 5500 ratepayers could not afford upcoming water costs and the council should seek a partnership with the DIA to pay for water. 'Dumping us in a bigger pool is not going to help. Our people can't afford to pay for water, full-stop. 'We cannot afford to build this infrastructure. It shouldn't mean we should go into millions worth of debt. It's unreasonable for the Government to put that on us. 'The DIA should develop a unique solution to help those [councils] who are struggling. You cannot get blood out of a stone.' Decision looms on water plan U-turn The council will consider the motion to overturn the two-council decision on August 13. Kirton is encouraging the public to contact their elected members or speak in the public forum before the vote. Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said he was surprised to learn that the decision was being reconsidered. 'It was disappointing to learn of this without direct contact to me – fortunately, I was advised informally. 'I am confident that when this matter goes to vote next week, the majority will continue to support the two-council water services CCO.' Tripe said the councils were to consider a joint water services delivery plan (WSDP) for adoption next week to make sure they meet the September 3 deadline. 'It's a strong model, which balances local voice, and the benefits of scale and consolidation. A majority of Ruapehu councillors recognised this when they also adopted it as their preferred model.' Tripe said if Whanganui's preferred model became unavailable, the council would have to reconsider its remaining options, revise its WSDP and work to meet its legislative obligations. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
