Nigel Tutt Chief Executive of Priority One

The Western BOP Infrastructure Forum launched this month. The business-led group is aimed at advocating for better infrastructure.

It's no secret our infrastructure has not kept up with rapid growth in WBOP, leading to increasingly bad traffic congestion and skyrocketing housing and rental prices. With our population increasing by 72 per cent since the turn of the century, sufficient roading and facilities should have been provided for this growth. Unfortunately, we have seen only one new road completed in the area during this time.

While economic growth has been strong, the business community is deeply concerned about the state of infrastructure and the growing demand for it in the future, particularly in the freight industry. There's two main drivers of this demand: migration of major industries southward from Auckland; and continued importance of Port of Tauranga as the nation's primary trade hub.

Sea-trade is essential to current and future wellbeing of Kiwis. Therefore, it is absolutely critical we invest in our infrastructure to ensure our port has the necessary transport links and capacity to meet future needs.

The forum has released a 10-point action plan to address infrastructure issues around the BOP, with a particular focus on Tauriko West. This area is essential because it contains our largest industrial estate, most of our available housing land for the short to medium term, and is the primary route to the Port from Waikato and Auckland. While short-term improvements are underway, a bypass through the area is the only viable solution to meet current and future needs.

When we launched the forum on April 20 with Finance Minister Grant Robertson, we also underlined our needs to get things done here – that means better recognition of the area in Wellington, long-term funding plans and a faster path to consenting. We are simply too slow to keep up with demand.