Save the Basin Campaign Media Release: It’s Time To Go Forwards, Not Backwards, On Wellington Transport

The Save the Basin Campaign today called on the Government, Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington to go forwards, not backwards, on Wellington transport.

Responding to the release of Let’s Get Wellington Moving’s summary feedback report and associated press release, Save the Basin Campaign spokesperson Tim Jones said “It’s very clear that there are two possible transport futures ahead of Wellington. One is a future that makes the city better to live in and better able to respond to climate change. The other is a big step backwards to the failed transport policies of the past, in which the city is once again held hostage to the private car.”

“Auckland is at last beginning to escape from the trap of putting cars before people in transport planning. It would be a huge waste if Wellington ended up falling into the very same trap,” Mr Jones said.

“The Save the Basin Campaign calls on the three agencies involved in this project to take a bold step forward on transport. Trying to escape congestion by building more motorway capacity has failed wherever it’s been tried. We need to invest in mass transit that will move people efficiently in large numbers, build better walking and cycling infrastructure, manage transport demand, and free up the roads for the people who genuinely need to use them.”

“Save the Basin’s objectives haven’t changed. We aim to protect the Basin Reserve from inappropriate development while supporting appropriate enhancements to Wellington’s transport system. We’ve helped to defeat flawed transport projects affecting the Basin before, and we stand prepared to defeat them again. But this time round, we hope that won’t be necessary,” Mr Jones concluded.

Save the Basin Campaign Inc. Submission On The Regional Land Transport Plan Mid-Term Review

While we wait to see what emerges from the Let’s Get Welly Moving engagement process that was held just before Christmas 2107, other transport planning processes are continuing.

One of them is the Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) Mid-Term Review – a rather strange beast which ranks a number of Wellington region transport plans in priority order, without providing much detail about any of them. Not surprisingly, whatever emerges from LGWM in terms of a detailed proposal is ranked #1 – but that’s far from the only proposal in the RLTP that would affect the Basin Reserve and its environs.

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