It’s Wednesday. The day’s news is mostly about capacity: how many people a bridge, a road or an events calendar can take, and who decides. Here’s what’s moving.
DOC is installing a pause gate on the first Hooker Valley bridge, after rangers counted twice the safe number on it
The Department of Conservation will fit self-closing swinging gates at both ends of the first suspension bridge on the Hooker Valley Track at Aoraki/Mount Cook. Engineers have found cable wear on the 47-year-old bridge and recommended that its 20-person limit be enforced. Principal ranger Dave Dittmer said the bridge is safe to cross, but that rangers have “regularly seen more than 40 people on the first bridge at one time”.
Rangers will be rostered at the bridge at peak times over summer, and DOC is looking at a webcam so it can be watched remotely. Director of asset management Anthony Clegg said the department has started work on options to replace the number 1 bridge within the next few years, and asked walkers to be patient ahead of what DOC expects to be a busy season.
The cause is worth noting. DOC puts the surge down to the new suspension bridge completed further up the valley, which has made an already crowded walk more attractive. It is a small, clean example of a problem that turns up across the conservation estate: a new piece of visitor infrastructure fixes one pinch point and moves the queue to the next oldest asset on the same path. For anyone timing a group onto the Hooker this summer, the practical change is a wait at the first bridge on busy days, and a walk that runs longer than the itinerary says.
Stat of the day
40+
People rangers have regularly counted on the first Hooker Valley bridge at one time. The recommended limit is 20, and the bridge is 47 years old. (Department of Conservation)
Source: Department of Conservation
The Government will write a National Events Strategy after a review found the system has no clear direction
Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston announced on Tuesday that work will start on a National Events Strategy. It follows an independent review of the events system by MartinJenkins, which found New Zealand is a strong host with skilled organisers, but that the system “lacks a clear long-term direction and a coordinated approach to funding and decision-making”.
The review’s recommendations run well past a strategy document: a coordinated investment platform, a national stewardship function, durable local co-investment and an integrated events portfolio. The Government has picked the lighter end for now. Alongside the strategy it will develop a framework for a national events calendar, give councils high-level regulatory guidance on common problems, set up an information hub so organisers know which agency to call, and form a national coordination group. The Minister said the wider recommendations will take more time to consider.
A national calendar is the piece with the most practical value for the visitor economy. Events funding in New Zealand currently comes through several central government funds, regional tourism organisations and councils, each deciding on its own timetable, with nobody holding the whole calendar. A pipeline view does not settle who pays, but it would at least show accommodation providers and inbound operators what is coming before the rooms are gone. What the announcement does not include is any new money, or any date for the strategy itself.
Source: Beehive, Minister’s release via Scoop
The Reserve Bank Governor says oil above US$100 will push inflation higher than the Bank forecast a month ago
Speaking in Dunedin on Tuesday, Reserve Bank Governor Anna Breman said that if recent increases in oil prices persist, near-term inflation will be “somewhat higher” than the Bank assumed in its September Monetary Policy Statement. Global oil has gone back above US$100 a barrel in recent weeks, and 91 octane was $3.34 a litre on the Gaspy monitoring site on Tuesday, a level last seen in June.
Breman singled out the South Island as the stronger half of the economy, pointing to resilient exports, lower unemployment and a firmer housing market, and said she expects the recovery to broaden. GDP grew 0.2 percent in the June quarter.
The connection to Monday’s price data is direct. Stats NZ has diesel up 45.8 percent and international airfares up 21.5 percent in the year to August, and the Governor is now saying the oil shock behind both is not done. With the OCR already lifted to 2.75 percent in September, a transport or activity operator carrying debt is looking at fuel and interest costs moving in the same direction at once. The next OCR decision is on 28 October.
Source: RNZ
An off-duty altercation between two Air New Zealand pilots in San Francisco has been reported to the regulator
RNZ reports that an alleged physical altercation between two Air New Zealand pilots at their San Francisco hotel earlier this month has been reported to the Civil Aviation Authority. San Francisco to Auckland departures on 6 and 7 September were cancelled, and at least one passenger was told the change was down to staff illness.
The airline said it was aware of a matter between two crew members off duty in the United States, that it was being investigated, and that there was no incident on board. The CAA confirmed it was aware of it, said employment matters are for the airline, and said it considers all information brought to it to decide whether regulatory action is needed.
On its own this is an employment matter with two cancelled flights attached. The timing is what makes it a question for the airline: Air New Zealand holds its annual shareholders’ meeting online at 2pm tomorrow, after a $336 million pre-tax loss and a slide to 32nd in the Skytrax rankings. San Francisco is one of the airline’s North American gateways, and a service cancelled at short notice on a long-haul sector is exactly the disruption inbound itineraries cannot absorb.
Source: RNZ
Paihia’s main road goes under stop-go from Monday and night closures through October
NZTA is rebuilding the stretch of State Highway 11 through Paihia between Tohitapu Road and Binnie Street, which it says has reached the end of its serviceable life. The work runs in two stages. From Monday 28 September to Friday 9 October, drainage work runs under daytime stop-go traffic management between 7am and 6pm, with a 30km/h limit and up to 10 minutes of delay. From Sunday 11 October to Friday 23 October, the road rebuild runs under night closures from 8pm to 6am, excluding Friday and Saturday nights.
During the night closures, traffic is detoured via SH1 at Kawakawa, SH10 at Pakaraka and SH11 at Haruru, which NZTA says adds up to 50 minutes. Work is due to finish by midday on Friday 23 October, weather permitting.
The timing is the right one. Paihia is the Bay of Islands’ ferry and cruise-tender town, and finishing the work before Labour Weekend keeps the delay off the summer peak. The night closures matter mostly to accommodation providers with late check-ins and to evening dining on the waterfront, where a 50-minute detour is the difference between a booking and a no-show.
Source: NZTA release via Scoop
Coming up
- 24 September Air New Zealand’s annual shareholders’ meeting, online at 2pm
- 24 September New applications for the general visitor visa and related categories must be started in the enhanced Immigration Online system
- 28 September SH11 Paihia drainage works begin under daytime stop-go, to 9 October
- 28 September Karakia at Rotorua Museum as the completed building moves into fit-out
- Week of 28 September NZTA expects to be able to say when SH6 between Makarora and Hāwea returns to 24-7 access
- 11 October SH11 Paihia night closures begin, 8pm to 6am except Friday and Saturday nights, finishing 23 October
- 22 October Best Places to Work awards
- 28 October The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Review and OCR decision
That's today's briefing. The Shoulder Season is back every weekday morning.