50 Victoria Street
Private Bag 6995
Wellington 6141
New Zealand
T 64 4 894 5400
F 64 4 894 6100
11 March 2020
www.nzta.govt.nz
Mr Brian Warburton
[FYI request #12245 email]
REF: OIA-6409
Dear Brian
Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank you for your email
of Saturday 15 February 2020 requesting the following information under the
Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
1. Benefit/Cost Ratio – please provide details of the
a)
the benefit/cost ratio as determined by NZTA for the Transmission Gully Project when it
was first designated in 1999;
b)
the benefit/cost ratio as determined by NZTA for the Transmission Gully Project when it
was subsequently re-designated in 2012;
c)
the benefit/cost ratio as determined by NZTA for the Transmission Gully Project
immediately prior to the recent reassessment announced mid-February 2020) of the
transport funds required to complete the project; and,
d)
the benefit/cost ratio as determined by NZTA for the Transmission Gully Project after its
recent reassessment (announced mid-February 2020) of the transport funds required to
complete the project (i.e.: after the incorporation of an additional $190M to the cost of
the project).
2. Variance
Please provide me with sufficient information so I am to understand:
if, in respect of 1c and 1d, there is a variance of more than 5% between the cost of the project
what the reasons are for that variance; and,
if, in respect of 1c and 1d, there is a variance of more than 5% between the benefits of the
project what the reasons are for that variance.
Regarding your specific requests for details on the benefit/cost ratio (BCR) as determined by Waka
Kotahi NZ Transport Agency for the Transmission Gully Project, our responses are as follows:
1(a) – We have reviewed historic records, despite reasonable and considerable efforts to try and
locate a document that identifies the benefit/cost ratio for Transmission Gully when the Notice
of Requirement was lodged in 1996 and/or designated following appeal in 2003. We have
been unable to locate any document(s) containing the information requested, therefore your
request is being refused pursuant to section 18(e) of the Act on the basis that the document(s)
containing the information requested cannot be found, despite reasonable efforts to locate
them.
1(b) – The Transport Agency stated in evidence to the Board of Inquiry hearing in 2012 for the
Transmission Gully motorway that the BCR for Transmission Gully was 0.82, excluding
agglomeration benefits.
That BCR is contained in a brief of evidence available at the following website, covered in
pages 97 to 106:
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/projects/transmission-gully-application/docs/evidence-craig-
nicholson.pdf
In 2013, the BCR for the Wellington Northern Corridor was recalculated as part of an
addendum to the Business Case for the Wellington Northern Corridor. The BCR for the
Wellington Northern Corridor was 1.6 including agglomeration benefits, but without wider
economic impacts and 1.8 including wider economic impacts. The benefits and costs of the
Transmission Gully project are included within the corridor BCR. The calculated Transmission
Gully Project BCR at that time was 1.5 as a stand-alone project.
A copy of the updated Wellington Northern Corridor Business Case: 2013 Addendum is
available at
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/wnc-business-case-addendum-full-
report-2013.pdf
In response to your requests numbered, 1(c), 1(d) and 2, the BCR for Transmission Gully has not
been recalculated since 2013. These requests are therefore refused pursuant to section 18(e) of
Act on the basis that the information requested does not exist.
Under section 28 of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review my decision to refuse
parts of your request. The contact details for the Ombudsman can be located at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
If you would like to discuss this reply further with the Transport Agency, please contact Craig
Nicholson – Principal Project Manager Transmission Gully, by email to [email address]
or by phone on (04) 910 8183.
Yours sincerely
Tony Fisher Acting Senior Manager, Project Delivery