The project team, working with consultants Sinclair Knight Merz (now Jacobs), completed a detailed study of the Pūhoi to Wellsford route.
Community input was sought through two rounds of consultation. The first round of engagement was undertaken between 1 June and 16 August 2010. A lot of feedback was received and a map summarising feedback was prepared.
As a result of this consultation, a decision was made by the NZTA to separate the project into two sections - Pūhoi to Warkworth and Warkworth to Te Hana.
A second round of consultation on Pūhoi to Warkworth took place between 16 November 2010 and 28 January 2011, with feedback and subsequent information on the project available on the Pūhoi to Warkworth webpage.
Due to the difficult terrain in the Dome Valley and ground conditions near Wellsford, the Warkworth to Te Hana section of the project was put on hold in 2010, pending further investigation work.
Investigations into the Warkworth to Te Hana section recommenced in 2016 with a project team, including members of the 2009-2010 Sinclair Knight Merz (now Jacobs) team, reviewing all previous investigations works undertaken to date.
Comprehensive technical assessments of the original ‘long list’ of options were completed and an Indicative Route was identified to take forward for public consultation in early-2017.
Once identified, the indicative route was discussed with all potentially affected landowners first, then presented to the wider communities of Warkworth, Wellsford and Te Hana for feedback.
The Indicative Route presented publicly in February 2017 was refined to what was called the Indicative Alignment within the proposed designation boundary.
The proposed designation boundary is the area of land that NZTA proposed to designate for the construction, operation and maintenance of the project.
It includes land which may be required for design refinements and for temporary construction activities such as access roads, construction yards and erosion and sediment control.
Indicative Alignment for Warkworth to Wellsford [PDF, 742 KB]
On 25 March 2021, Auckland Council granted resource consents, subject to conditions, for the Warkworth to Te Hana project. Council also recommended we confirm the Notice of Requirement (NoR). During appeal periods for resource consents and NoR, a small number of appeals were filed. The appeals were worked through and the Environment Court process has concluded.
The Warkworth to Te Hana route is now protected, and the designation is now included within the Auckland Unitary Plan.
