Road rationalisation under way at Omau Cape Foulwind

Buller District Council is undertaking a Road Rationalisation process for Lighthouse Road and Cape Foulwind Road at Omau. 

With the sale of Holcim land and the Holcim Haul Road not been used anymore, the Omau intersection is not anymore fit for purpose or easy to navigate for road users. The Cape Foulwind area and Omau also have recently seen investment and subdivision development. This requires council to review the local road infrastructure to remain suitable.

Manager infrastructure delivery Eric de Boer says: “We are doing the design work to make this intersection fit for the future. This involves identifying ownership of pieces of land the road is on. This is necessary due to historical inconsistencies between road reserves, what has now become private land holdings and the physical location of the road.”

This survey of the current roading layout will lead to the need for a series of potential property swaps between private owners and Buller District Council. 

Mr de Boer says: "Once we have defined a preferred design and tidied up the ownership through potential land swaps, we can start thinking about how the intersection should look like in the future to serve our community.”

Council has considered to utilise the Public Works Act to enact this land transfer amongst willing partners. 

Mr de Boer says: “The final design plans for the intersection will go out for community engagement and review when the preliminary designs are completed."

ENDS-

Further information and contacts:
Manager Infrastructure Delivery
Eric de Boer
eric.deboer@bdc.govt.nz