Month: August 2014

Save the Basin Campaign Media Release: Greater Wellington and the NZ Transport Agency need to learn from their mistakes

Posted on by stb_nyltr0

The Save the Basin Campaign has criticised the paper that Greater Wellington will be considering on Tuesday about the implications of the Basin Bridge Board of Inquiry’s draft decision to decline consent for a Basin Reserve flyover.

The paper calls for the establishment of a joint governance group between the NZ Transport Agency, Greater Wellington and the Wellington City Council to accelerate planning on local transit projects ‘to enable them to facilitate and support a solution to the Basin Reserve’.

It’s a concern that, despite the Board’s decision, the parties believe ‘the Ngauranga to Airport Corridor Plan is still fit for purpose and forms and appropriate basis for developing the transport network of this key corridor’.

Save the Basin Campaign spokesperson Tim Jones said “The NZ Transport Agency, Greater Wellington and Wellington City Council have already had one go at coming up with a so-called ‘solution to the Basin Reserve’. The end result was their proposal for an outdated, ugly, inappropriate and unnecessary flyover. Rightly, the Board of Inquiry rejected this proposal in its draft decision.”

“Rather than looking at the fundamental flaws in their flyover proposal, it appears that Greater Wellington and the NZ Transport Agency may try to bundle a Basin flyover up with some other transport projects in an attempt to make it more palatable,” Tim Jones said. “But however it is packaged, a flyover is still completely inappropriate for the Basin Reserve and the surrounding environment – as the Board of Inquiry found.”

“It’s time for Greater Wellington and the NZ Transport Agency to recognise that they have been barking up the wrong tree,” Tim Jones said. “It’s time for them to pay attention to what flyover opponents argued and the Board has found: that there are non-flyover transport options worth serious consideration.”

“It’s also time for the Wellington City Council to stand up for Wellington, its heritage, and our iconic Basin Reserve,” Tim Jones concluded. “We need a genuine solution based on Wellington’s needs, not a failed ‘solution’ imposed from above.”

Political Parties, The General Election, And The Basin Reserve Flyover Decision

Posted on by stb_nyltr0

How you vote is up to you. But political reaction in the wake of the Board of Inquiry’s draft decision to decline resource consent for a Basin Reserve flyover suggests that you have a very clear choice when considering the view of political parties on the Basin flyover issue.

Politicians’ reactions on social media

As word of the draft decision spread, Save the Basin’s Twitter account got a large number of congratulatory and supportive messages, including these:

Julie Anne Genter ‏@JulieAnneGenter  Jul 22

Reason prevails!!! We won. I am SO thrilled right now. #noflyover http://www.epa.govt.nz/Resource-management/Basin_Bridge/Pages/Basin_Bridge.aspx … @save_the_basin

Gareth Hughes ‏@GarethMP  Jul 22

Basin Reserve decision a victory for common sense & the community! http://www.epa.govt.nz/Resource-management/Basin_Bridge/Pages/Basin_Bridge.aspx … awesome work @save_the_basin

Grant Robertson @grantrobertson1 · Jul 22

Basin Flyover decision damning on NZTA- didn’t properly consider alternatives, sig destruction of heritage +amenity, big ?s over time saving

(My apologies to Peter Dunne, @PeterDunneMP – try as I might, I can no longer find his tweet – I should have saved it at the time! But he has been a consistent opponent of a Basin Reserve flyover.)

Press statements

Political parties, including NZ First, also released press releases supporting the Board’s draft decision:

Labour Party: Basin Flyover Decision An Opportunity For Capital: http://campaign.labour.org.nz/basin_flyover_decision_an_opportunity_for_capital

Green Party: Basin Reserve Decision Victory for Common Sense: https://www.greens.org.nz/press-releases/basin-flyover-decision-victory-common-sense

NZ First: Opportunity Knocks for Wellington with Light Rail Link: http://nzfirst.org.nz/news/opportunity-knocks-wellington-light-rail-link

I haven’t seen a statement from Internet Mana on the issue, but the Mana Movement had previously expressed opposition to the proposed flyover.

The Government Reaction: Gerry Brownlee

In stark contrast, the Government expressed dismay and mystification over the decision, as exemplified by Gerry Brownlee:

http://money.msn.co.nz/businessnews/national/8879103/brownlee-disappointed-by-basin-decision

So, as we approach the General Election, voters have a clear choice. Four parties – Labour, the Greens, United Future and NZ First – have expressed clear and consistent opposition to a Basin Reserve flyover, while the Mana Movement has previously expressed opposition.

In contrast, the National Party appears unable to conceive that the NZTA might have got it wrong, or that any other solution than a flyover is possible. The return of a National Government will increase the risk that a flyover is pushed through outside the normal RMA processes, such as by empowering legislation.

Chicken Little versus Reality: Reactions to the Draft Flyover Decision

Posted on by stb_nyltr0

As you probably know, the Basin Bridge (i.e. flyover) Board of Inquiry released its draft decision on Tuesday 22 July. In its draft decision, the Board:

Cancelled the Notice of Requirement (NoR) for the construction, operation, and maintenance of State Highway 1 in Wellington City between Paterson Street and Buckle Street/Taranaki Street, and to construct (and where necessary operate and maintain) work that avoids, remedies or mitigates adverse effects.

Declined the resource consent applications.

In other words, they turned down the flyover proposed to them by the New Zealand Transport Agency. Parties (including the applicant and submitters) now have until 19 August to submit comments on any factual errors they find within the draft report, and the Board will release its final decision by Saturday 30 August. Parties then have the opportunity to consider making an appeal on matters of law.

You can download the draft decision from the EPA website (PDF, 6MB)

Media reaction

Not surprisingly, there was a flurry of media reaction when the decision was announced – far too much, in fact, to link all of it here. You can get a good flavour by following the flyover coverage categories in Wellington Scoop and in the Dominion Post. Patrick McCombs’ article Pain, Cost and Embarrassment … Because the Transport Agency Didn’t Listen does a great job of highlighting the many deficiencies of NZTA’s case, and the sloppy arrogance with which the Transport Agency approached the Board hearing.

This pair of posts from Wellington’s Eye of the Fish blog – one before and one after the decision – reflect the surprise many pundits felt about the Board’s decision:

There were also a number of congratulatory messages and supportive statements from political parties including Labour, the Greens, United Future and NZ First, which I’ll cover in a subsequent post. (If I’ve missed any parties out from that list, please let me know!)

The sky isn’t falling, and there is a Plan B

Given previous Boards’ track record of approving Government proposals, it’s understandable that many people were surprised at the decision. What’s less understandable is the failure of a number of local business and civic leaders to either accept or adapt to the situation.

Plainly, many flyover supporters had proceeded on the assumption that the project would be rubber-stamped. The weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth extended from Kirkcaldie and Stains to certain inhabitants of various Council chambers.

Well, here’s some news for the Chicken Littles of Wellington: the sky isn’t falling, and contrary to what a number of local and national politicians have said, there is a plan B – in fact, several other options are on the table and were taken seriously by the Board in its report.

For example, here’s what the draft Board decision says about the Basin Reserve Roundabout Enhancement Option (BRREO) developed by Richard Reid & Associates for the Mount Victoria Residents Association, and presented to the Board hearing:

We concluded that the BRREO concept was not suppositional and was at least worthy of consideration. While not delivering equal transportation benefits to the Project, we found that it may nonetheless deliver measurable transport benefits at considerably less cost and considerably less adverse effects on the environment. We bear in mind that BRREO is still at a provisional or indicative stage and could be subject to further adjustment by further analysis. (pp. 438-9)

So. Options are on the table. Pending the final decision, a flyover isn’t one of them. It’s time for an open, reality-based discussion about what happens next.

 

 

http://www.epa.govt.nz/Resource-management/Basin_Bridge/Pages/Basin_Bridge.aspx