aerial image of a truck laying asphalt on a treelined road while three people in high vis vests move around it smoothing the layers

Selwyn District Council is getting more for every dollar, delivering high-quality road works at a lower cost than similar councils, according to an independent road monitoring group.

The figures come from the Road Efficiency Group Te Ringa Maimoa, a partnership between NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) and local government, which compares how New Zealand’s 65 councils look after their roads. They cover the three years to 30 June 2026.

The monitoring group gave Selwyn its top rating for efficiency and effectiveness.

This maintenance came at the lowest cost per kilometre of New Zealand’s 25 rural districts. Selwyn spends $8,720 a year to maintain each kilometre of road, against a national average of $18,087.

Its figures show Selwyn’s roads are almost 30 percent smoother than roads in similar council areas, based on the number of bumps per kilometre, despite having the fourth highest traffic volume of any council in the country, more than Tauranga or Wellington.

“Our focus has been on using the money we have well. Our teams have found smarter ways to work, and that means our budget goes further," Council Executive Director Infrastructure and Property Tim Mason says.

"It’s good to see these figures, from an independent source, which show our team is stacking up as one of the best in the country when we are compared to other councils.”

Good planning, aligning road work with other projects and innovative methods were key parts of the success, helping Council to finish its planned road maintenance early and under budget during the 2025/2026 financial year, Mr Mason says. The savings paid for repairs to an extra 12km of road over that period.

The Council is preparing for a busy summer season with plans to resurface 80km of road, including resurfacing Springston Rolleston Road early in the new year.

With the current road maintenance contract coming to an end, the Council is running an open tender, which is the normal way to test the market and see if there are further improvements that could be made.

The full report and data is available on the Transport Insights website.

Find out more about roadworks in Selwyn , or sign up to Selwy's Roadworks and Public Notices Channel.

Last modified: 09 Nov 2026 1:29pm