Otaki Today(Updated July 14 to include new information supplied by Metlink about location and timing.)
A new bus stop is planned for Te Horo, but proposals that include one outside Rod Clifton Motors on the old main highway has got Rod riled.
Rod, who has been running his transport and vehicle repair business on the Te Horo site for more than 50 years, is vehemently opposed to anything outside his premises.
“It ain’t going to happen here, I’m telling you that now,” Rod told Ōtaki Today. “We’re just too busy here, there are too many people coming in and out.”
Rod Clifton outside his business in Te Horo where a new bus stop is planned.
Photo Ōtaki Today
Seven businesses operate within 100m of Rod's premises. They include not only three operated by Rod Clifton – his motor repair, truck rentals and transport businesses – but also Fox Plumbing, Bec’s Upholstery, Faith Farm Fresh Milk and a sand quarry.
Rod says there are large movements of traffic all day to and from these businesses and no room for bus passengers to park their vehicles.
“The transporting company is busy all day coming and going, moving things like caravans, motor homes, boats, buses, trucks, tractors, farm machinery, and earthmoving equipment,” he says.
The workshop also has many vehicles coming in and out for repairs and warrants of fitness. Fox Plumbing also has vans, trucks and trailers with diggers, and customers collecting hire equipment; Faiths is busy all day, as is the sand quarry with truck movements.
Rod believes the roading engineers have chosen the site because it’s on a wide section of road. Plans brought in to him by someone recently – he doesn’t know who as he was out at the time and they left no contact number – show the site of a bus stop outside his place and a concrete barrier behind which the buses would pull in to stop.
Rod says he also has an issue with patronage on the 290 route bus that has been stopping at Te Horo since the beginning of the year.
“The number of people on that bus wouldn’t pay the driver’s wages. So how can they spend $100,000-plus on a bus stop?”
Rod believes the current temporary bus stop down the road is a better option.
“They just need to put some gravel on the grass area and build a fence on the railway side.”
People at Te Horo Beach successfully pushed for a bus to stop at Te Horo, but Rod says it should go down Te Hapua Road and Te Horo Beach Road and stop at the beach – “not here where no one uses it”.
Metlink told Ōtaki Today it had been working closely with the Te Horo community to understand their public transport needs, and as a result it was considering options, including placing the bus stop outside Rod’s business for the 290 route.
Metlink group manager Samantha Gain says the location of the bus stop has not yet been confirmed and the final decision will be made by both Waka Kotahi as current road owners, and Kāpiti Coast District Council as eventual owners once the revocation process is complete.
Metlink understands one option being discussed is to convert the recently installed pair of temporary stops near Rod's business, to permanent bus stops for route 290 services.
"When a decision is made, our focus will be on ensuring the design of the new stop is accessible, and that the bus has sufficient room to safely pull off the road, and for passengers to disembark," Samantha says.
As discussions are continuing between Waka Kotahi and KCDC on the location of a possible permanent stop, a start date for construction works is not yet known.
NZTA/Waka Kotahi says it is working with Greater Wellington to deliver new bus stops within local state highway corridors, including that at Te Horo.
“All operational decisions rest with GWRC, but NZTA/Waka Kotahi is supporting its work,” a spokesperson said. “We provide safety inputs, design, and construction services for these projects This includes the proposed stop/shelter in Te Horo.”
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