Complaint laid over troublesome Timaru intersection on SH1

Thursday, 12 June 2025

NZTA has laid an official complaint with the Timaru District Council over delays to work required on a culvert at the intersection leading to The Showgrounds retail development.

An official complaint about delays to work at a busy intersection on State Highway 1 through Timaru has been laid by the national transport agency.

A culvert at the intersection, which sits at the entrance to retail development The Showgrounds, was required to be replaced by the developer by March 2024 as part of consented work at the site.

In April, the council said it was waiting on the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to make a complaint over delays to work at the intersection before it tackled the issue with the developer.

The Timaru Herald asked for an update on the matter.

On Tuesday, Timaru District Council group manager corporate and communications Stephen Doran responded to questions.

Traffic congestion issues along SH1 outside the development have been raised since the development opened in March 2023. (File photo)

Doran confirmed a “formal written complaint regarding The Showgrounds intersection” had been received by the council on May 15.

Doran said the council had followed up with the developer and sought a response to NZTA’s complaint on May 19.

It had received a response from the developer on May 26, he said.

“We are currently considering this response and will likely be requesting further information to progress the matter.

“As this is an ongoing compliance matter, we do not want to prejudice proceedings by making any detailed further comment at this time.”

Traffic at The Showgrounds intersection in Timaru in March - the same month the first businesses opened at the complex.

In February, mayor Nigel Bowen aired his frustration over delays to get the work done at the intersection, which had led to complaints of traffic congestion, saying the developer was “playing games”.

“They just need to own up and do what they promised they’d do, which is to get that intersection fixed,” he said, at the time.

In May, the council’s in-house lawyer Elliot Higbee said there should be no confusion over how the culvert issue should be resolved, and he had discussed the consent conditions with the developer.

At the time, Higbee said the conditions had been “requested by the developer in 2020” and would see the council sign off a “detailed engineering design for the intersection before Stage 2 on-site works”.

Timaru business owner Darryl Pyke raised concerns about the culvert (pictured) not having been upgraded in 2023. (File photo)

Higbee said after that, and “before work on the State Highway” the council and NZTA would sign off detailed designs for the intersection and a culvert extension.

He said it was his guess the theory behind that process was that the shape of the intersection would have a flow-on impact on the requirements for the culvert.

Higbee was responding to comments made by developer Kerry Knight, of Equinox Group, a relative newcomer to the culvert issue, having taken over The Showgrounds project late last year when former developer Tony Gapes ran out of money.

Knight told The Timaru Herald there was some confusion of what was expected by each party, including who would rebuild the road once the culvert work was completed. Neither the developer, the council nor NZTA could be singled out for criticism due to the complicated nature of the problem, he said.

At the time, Knight said he did not know how long it would take to resolve and it was “costing a lot of money with consultants”.

An aerial view showing The Showgrounds and State Highway 1/Evans St.

“We’ve spent $2m to $3m over and above what we expected to do,” Knight said, at the time.

The Timaru Herald also asked the council about a meeting which was listed in the actions register in the agenda for the council meeting on June 3.

The actions register said a meeting, scheduled between NZTA representatives, elected members and the council’s chief executive, had been held on May 15.

The council was asked who had attended the meeting, what had been discussed and whether any progress had been made.

Doran said senior NZTA staff, council officers and elected members had met to discuss The Showgrounds development, applicable resource consents, and wider highways and road funding issues.

Doran, who attended the meeting, said “from memory” others in attendance included mayor Nigel Bowen, councillors Allan Booth, Owen Jackson and Sally Parker, chief executive Nigel Trainor and council staff Paul Cooper (group manager environmental services) and Hamish Barrell (district planning manager, consents, compliance and strategy).

NZTA West Coast, Canterbury, Otago and Southland acting director regional relationships Ian Duncan, and maintenance and operations managerPeter Brown attended on behalf of NZTA, he said.