A new Curia poll for Wellington Airport shows the vast majority of residents want a second Mount Victoria tunnel – a project opposed by most leading electorate candidates and promised, then long delayed, by the current Government.
The poll of 1000 Wellingtonians found 67% were for the proposed tunnel for private and public transport, with 17% opposed. The biggest support base was in the north and west of the city – with the south least-supportive, although even there a majority still supported the project.
The National Party three years ago had pledged “spades in the ground” for the second tunnel this term, but recently confirmed the project had no construction funding for the foreseeable future.
The Curia poll said the wider Wellington State Highway 1 improvements – second Mount Victoria and Terrace tunnels and other road changes, notably around the Basin Reserve – were unlikely for the next 10 years. It asked how soon people would like the project to happen.
Just 13% said not at all, while 28% were happy to wait a decade and 59% wanted it as soon as possible.
The new numbers follow the release of anti-tunnel lobby group Save the Basin’s survey of Wellington Bays and North candidates, showing widespread opposition to the tunnel – including from Labour, which once planned a second tunnel alongside projects such as light rail.
At a cost of $4 billion – likely to rise – the second Mt Victoria tunnel was unlikely to go ahead, said Wellington Bays Labour candidate Craig Renney in his response to the survey.
“People are stuck in traffic right now, and we do need new infrastructure in Wellington. But as currently proposed this plan makes little sense, and would significantly impact local communities here in Wellington Bays. Better ways of achieving the same goal need to be explored and funded.”
Labour Wellington North candidate Ayesha Verrall was also opposed.
Green candidates Tamatha Paul and Julie Anne Genter, currently Wellington Central and Rongotai MPs, have both long opposed the roads with Paul calling them “wasteful and unnecessary”.
National Wellington North candidate Jonathan Pitts said he strongly supported the projects, despite the low benefit-cost-ratios (BCRs) they had. The State Highway 1 Transmission Gully had a 0.6 BCR and the Mt Victoria tunnel had a BCR of 1 – meaning equal costs to benefits – if tolled.
National’s Wellington Bays candidate Karunā Muthu did not answer the survey but has been claiming Labour pulled funding for the second Mt Victoria tunnel.
Both Opportunity Party candidates opposed the tunnel, as did Alliance Wellington North candidate Josh Harford.
ACT’s Wellington North candidate Matthew Hague was supportive, conditional on “rigorous value-for-money discipline”.
Save the Basin spokesperson Ross Teppett said the Curia survey “isn’t even worth the paper it is written on”. He alleged it lacked credibility as it failed to consider alternatives and did not mention the added cost to people via new taxes and borrowing.
“The project is simply not going to be built. What we need is an intelligent conversation about how to build simple affordable infrastructure that people can use within the next few years,” he said.
Editor’s note: If you’re not familiar with polling companies, it’s worth finding out a little more about Curia, who conducted this poll, before you decide how much weight to put on the results. Nicky Hager’s new book Dirty Work details Curia’s close involvement with the Taxpayers’ Union and the National Party. Here is a useful article on Curia’s past breach of professional standards.