The Environment Court has now granted final resource consents for RiverLink, clearing the way for the programme to proceed as planned.

This is a great milestone for the RiverLink partners, and the wider RiverLink team, and represents more than 5 years’ worth of work covering implementation planning and design, community engagement, and more recently public hearings and submissions of evidence to the Environment Court.

The consenting approach has been an innovative first of its kind, with Hutt City Council, Waka Kotahi, and Greater Wellington together applying for a joint application, with mana whenua opening and closing proceedings, submitting evidence, and supporting throughout the consent process.

Delivering for the people Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai (Lower Hutt) has always been front of mind, and these final resource consents should give real confidence to the community that we are on track to deliver the critical flood protection work, transport improvements, and revitalisation of the Hutt central city, that make up the RiverLink programme.

RiverLink will bring a wide range of benefits to the tens of thousands of Kiwis who live in, work in, and travel through Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai every day, and after many years of planning and development work, we’re really excited to finally be in a position to get on and deliver this project.

The granting of these consents comes at a time when the project is building real momentum towards delivery. The RiverLink procurement documents were released on 13 October which marks the start of our formal process to select a preferred team of designers and constructors to partner with to deliver RiverLink.

This procurement process is scheduled to close on 15 December, with a preferred proponent announced in March 2023.

Early works are scheduled to start in early to mid-2023, with main construction starting in late 2023. The RiverLink programme is expected to be completed in 2027.

You can find a copy of the final consent conditions here.