Review of Issues Affecting Utilities and Road, Rail and Motorway Corridors
On 20 October 2004 Cabinet Policy Committee directed officials to report back to POL on wider issues related to utility access on the road and rail corridor, including cost sharing arrangements (POL Min (04) 25/20 paragraph 4 refers).
The Ministry was given the task of carrying out this directive with the outcome of advising the process and findings of the review and, if needed, making recommendations on action needed to provide consistent conditions that will ensure the efficient use of road and rail corridors by utilities.
On 28 June 2005, the Ministry released a discussion paper seeking submissions from the utilities sector. Submissions closed 5 August 2005 and a summary of submissions has been prepared.
The review is now complete and a policy framework has been developed to provide consistent legislation, effective management, and appropriate and efficient processes for the use of road, motorway and rail corridors by utilities.
A paper recommending the proposed policy framework (described in the Position Paper: Utilities and the Road, Motorway and Rail Corridors) was approved by Cabinet Business Committee on 2 October 2006. The associated Regulatory Impact Statement has been published.
The paper recommended that the Ministry of Economic Development continue the development of the policy framework to a level that will enable drafting instructions to be prepared, and to report back to Cabinet Economic Development Committee by 30 June 2007 (subsequently changed to 30 November 2007).
Following further engagement with the sector, the report back to Cabinet subsequently made a number of changes from that originally proposed. The associated Regulatory Impact Statement has been published.
The most significant change was the development by stakeholders of a national Code of Practice that would be mandated through legislation. This initiative was supported by the Minister of Economic Development in a media statement in February 2008.
A further change was agreed by Cabinet in August 2008 (CAB Min (08) 30 4A refers) to rescind one of the decisions in the December 2007 Cabinet paper in order to be consistent with the Code of Practice. Recommendation 6.6 of the paper was rescinded as the current statutory provisions for electricity, gas and telecommunications operators to impose conditions on electricity and gas operators is consistent with the Code of Practice, so should not be amended.
Proposed legislative amendments were supposed to be introduced to the House by August 2008 through a Utilities Access Amendment Bill, however, the Bill is still being drafted.
Cabinet Paper - Management of Utilities' Access to Road, Rail and Motorway Corridors
[ Published 10 January 2008 ]
This Cabinet paper presents recommendations for changes to legislation to improve the management of utility access to the transport corridors.
Regulatory Impact Statement: Management of Utilities' Access to Road, Rail and Motorway Corridors
[ Published 11 January 2008 ]
Regulatory Impact Statement on the Cabinet paper that presents recommendations for changes to legislation to improve the management of utility access to the transport corridors.
Media Statements
Media Statements relating to the Review of Issues Affecting Utilities and Road, Rail and Motorway Corridors.
Archive
Utilities and Corridors topics which are no longer current can be found in the archive section.
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