Twelve significant resource management issues are identified for the Matamata-Piako District in the District Plan. Six of these issues are commented on in this report:

• Rural Development
• Residential Growth
• Solid Waste
• Natural Environment
• Heritage
• Natural Hazards

The remaining six issues are briefly outlined below. These issues will be addressed in more detail in future state of the environment reports.

Transportation

A good transportation system is vital to the prosperity of the district. Transport enables businesses to access resources and markets and provides people with access to social, cultural, recreational and employment opportunities. Transportation and traffic growth can result in economic, environmental, social and safety impacts that need to be managed through careful land use decisions.

Objectives and Visions

• To protect and improve the safety and efficiency of the State Highway and District Road network
• To protect residential amenity from the effects of excessive traffic generation and on-street parking in residential streets
• To encourage self sufficiency in the provision of parking and loading spaces to avoid conflict with on-street usage
• The avoidance, remediation and mitigation of the effects of transportation
• To encourage the provision of alternative transportation networks where it is clearly demonstrated that the provision of such networks will positively benefit and enhance the environment and community which they serve
• To ensure that those activities that place demands on the roading network contribute fairly to any works considered necessary to meet those demands.

Pressures

Transport systems provide the link between different areas, connecting people with their needs and activities. An efficient transport system provides communities with mobility, freedom and a means of communication. Whilst Matamata-Piako maintains an efficient transport system providing many benefits, there are also several significant social and environmental impacts. New Zealand has a relatively low-density population, so New Zealanders tend to travel a lot, mostly by private vehicle. We have 46 cars for every 100 people compared with a world average of 11. Our high level of motor vehicle use produces some significant environmental effects, mainly evident in large congested, densely built urban areas. Limited air quality studies show that, at times, carbon monoxide levels in some urban traffic corridors exceed the New Zealand guidelines. Transport is also responsible for some of the extensive heavy metal contamination evident in some harbours and estuarine areas. Transport contributes 40 percent of New Zealand’s carbon dioxide emissions. Many of the environmental effects of transport services are diffuse and this makes them difficult to deal with.