Tarata Road Projects

Background

Tarata Road is a rural road stretching from the eastern boundary of the Inglewood Township to the New Plymouth District / Stratford District boundary at Purangi, a distance of about 36 kilometres.

The road is currently sealed, except for the last two km at the regional boundary.

The road is subjected to high levels of heavy traffic from forestry operations from both the New Plymouth and Stratford districts.  

Existing levels of service will be maintained for this year (2024/2025) and we are doing further work with the community on future levels of service, which will be considered through the 2025/2026 and 2027/2028 Annual Plans.

Tarata Road Projects

Our network inspectors will continue to monitor Tarata Rd for pavement defects and prioritise repairs.

Projects update February 2025

Crews are rebuilding a one-kilometre section of the Purangi Saddle which involves removing existing road material, installing drainage, improving alignment, and building the new road to improve its safety and resilience for those who use it.

To carry out the works safely, Tarata Road will be CLOSED at the following times:  

• 7am-7pm on Monday 10 and Tuesday 11 February.
• 8.30am-3.30pm on Sunday 16 and Monday 17 February.

Access for residents will be maintained. 

Outside the above times, stop and go traffic management will be in place. 

Find out more about this project 

Junction Road Endowment Fund 

NPDC was the owner of approximately 544 hectares of farmland around Junction Road which was subject to 25 leases.

The Taranaki County Reserves Act 1966 (the Act) vested the land in the former Taranaki County Council (now NPDC) as freehold land as an endowment for County purposes.

Section 4 of the Act stated that part of the revenue from the leases be applied towards the cost of administration and management of the leases with the balance used for maintenance and improvement of Junction Road (now Tarata Road).

In 2010 we approved the sale of 25 Junction Road Leasehold Endowment properties owned by NPDC.

The freehold interests in 24 of these farmland properties generated $7.68m when sold and the proceeds put into an endowment fund.

Taking in to account the interest generated and what has been spent to date, there is currently about $8.30m in the Endowment Fund, which is held on a term deposit with BNZ Bank.

Community meetings and surveys were held in 2014 and 2018 to get feedback, views and preferences on a draft 10-year road and maintenance work programme for Tarata Road.

The last survey was carried out at the same time as public consultation on the NPDC’s  2018-2028 Long-term Plan and the list of projects decided on are included in the document below (see pages 4-7).

Junction Road Endowment Fund 2018 Work Plan

Project updates – Updated October 2024

The following projects are scheduled for 2024/2025

Documents

• NPDC Monitoring Commitee Report 2015
• Inglewood Community Board Memo July 2020 and appendix
• Letter 

Frequently Asked Questions