New NZTA Flyover Images Show A Grey Monstrosity

A flyover would dominate the view from St Mark's School - With thanks to Wellington Scoop
A flyover would dominate the view from St Mark’s School – With thanks to Wellington Scoop

The NZTA wriggled and struggled and fought, but eventually they had to bow to the will of Board on Inquiry Chair Judge Whiting and produce visual mockups of what a flyover would look like imposed on Mt Victoria and the Basin Reserve area.

Of course, being the NZTA, they prettified the images as much as they could, expecting us to believe that a flyover would come magically surrounded by fully-grown trees. But even so, the results aren’t pretty, as a new article on Welington Scoop clearly shows: http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=62368

This article contrasts before and after views of Mt Victoria with and without the proposed flyover. It shows how the flyover will cut across Wellington both physically and visually, severing communities and destroying iconic views. And for what? For nothing more than a monument to NZTA”s and the Government’s outdated transport thinking in an era when vehicle use is declining.

Let’s work together to stop this grey monstrosity being foisted on Wellington. You can:

Basin Flyover Board Of Inquiry Member Resigns Over Alleged Conflict Of Interest

We’ve just received word that one of the members of the Basin “Bridge” Board of Inquiry has resigned. Here is the official statement from the Board’s website:

“Mrs Christine Foster has given consideration to the objections raised alleging conflict of interest. Mrs Foster has, in the interests of the Board and process, offered her resignation to the Minister for the Environment. The Minister has accepted the resignation. The Board has decided to ask the EPA to seek the Minister’s consideration of appointing a replacement Board member.”

This is the Board’s Memorandum on the issue (PDF):

http://www.epa.govt.nz/Publications/Memorandum_No.09_-_Resignation_of_Mrs_Foster.pdf

It appears that all is not plain sailing for this particular Board of Inquiry.

UPDATE: Wellington Scoop has more on the background to this story: http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=60466

Basin Flyover Board Of Inquiry Issues Revised Hearing Timetable

The Board of Inquiry convened to run the hearing process on the proposed Basin Reserve flyover held a Pre-Hearing Conference on Wednesday 25 September.

The pre-hearing conference was held in the unlikely surroundings of the Mercure Hotel at the top end of the Terrace – a venue which is up a hill, unsheltered, and has no public transport access and little parking. We hope the hearing itself will be held somewhere that has good public transport access, is central, and is on the flat.

The Pre-Hearing Conference heard submissions on a number of procedural issues. Many submitters to the Pre-Hearing Conference, including Save the Basin, argued that the proposed hearing start date of Monday 13 January was unrealistic and unfair, and argued for a start date of Monday 3 February or later.

While we didn’t get everything we wanted on this one, the Board has moved the hearing start date forward two weeks to Monday 27 January. Here is the revised indicative timetable from this point forward:

Friday 25 October: Applicant’s Evidence in Chief (EIC) lodged with EPA

Friday 13 December: Submitters evidence lodged with EPA

Monday 16 December: Expert witness conferencing begins no later than this date

Friday 10 January: Applicant’s rebuttal evidence lodged with EPA

Monday 20 January: Last day for giving notice of making representations

Monday 27 January: Hearing starts

Friday 28 February: Hearing ends

Thursday 17 April: Draft decision released

Monday 19 May: Comments on draft decision due

Friday 30 May: Final decision released

Some points to note:

  • The new deadline for lodging “submitters evidence” with the Board is Friday 13 December.
  • NZTA have been given a deadline of 10 January to lodge their rebuttal evidence.
  • The end date for the Board of Inquiry process has been pushed out to 30 May 2014 (as allowed for by a recent change to legislation).

Even with these changes, the timetable for these hearing processes is very tight. Several previous Boards of Inquiry have had to be extended beyond the intended nine-month period.

Last Day To Submit On Proposed Basin Flyover – And What To Do If Your Submission Isn’t Acknowledged

STOP PRESS: Submissions have just closed – and we’ve had one submitter who submitted by email contact us to say that they haven’t received any response to their submission. We suggest that, if you don’t get a reply to your submission, you send a followup email to basinbridge@epa.govt.nz asking whether your submission has been received, and cc it to the Friend of the Submitter, Mark St Clair, m.stclair@hyc.co.nz

Your submission should be acknowledged! If you haven’t had a satsifactory response to your followup enquiry after a couple of working days, please contact stoptheflyover@gmail.com with “Submission Not Acknowledged” in the subject line, and we’ll follow this up for you.

— original post —

This is it, folks: submissions on the proposed Basin Reserve flyover (“Basin Bridge”) close today at 5pm. Don’t leave it until the very last minute to submit.

The online submission form is on this page: http://www.epa.govt.nz/Resource-management/Basin_Bridge/Pages/Basin_Bridge.aspx

Remember that it times out after an hour.

Save the Basin’s Submission Guide is here: http://savethebasin.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/24/submission-guide-proposed-basin-bridge-flyover/

And please remember to:

Good luck, and many thanks to all those who have already submitted!

Submission Guide: Proposed Basin Bridge (Flyover)

Note: For formal purposes , the flyover proposal is called the “Basin Bridge Proposal”.

This guide has been developed by the Save the Basin campaign to assist people in making a written submission to the Board of Inquiry that has been established by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to hear the NZTA’s resource consent application for a ‘Basin Bridge’. The Guide is divided into Part One – the process of making a submission – and Part Two, which gives you some pointers on what you might want to cover in your submission.

The Guide is below, but you can also download it as a PDF file:

Submission Guide: Proposed Basin Bridge (Flyover) (PDF, 184 KB)

STOP PRESS

Three things we’ve recently learned that aren’t in the Submission Guide, and one further suggestion:

1) You don’t need to be 18 or over to submit – there is no minimum age limit. So school-age children can submit – and they should, especially if they live or study in the vicinity of the proposed flyover.
2) You don’t have to be living in New Zealand to submit.
3) The EPA has released its draft schedule for the Board of Inquiry process – and it shows the hearings starting on Monday 13 January, when many people are still on holiday. If you feel this is unfairly early, tell the EPA so in your submission, and urge them to start the hearings later. The draft schedule is on p24 of this EPA Inquiry Procedures document.
4) In the online submission form, when you ask to appear, you are given the option of going in with other submitters making similar points. We suggest that you ask to appear separately.

PART ONE – THE PROCESS

Here are the main points about the submissions process:

Note: All details can be found on the Environmental Protection Authority’s Information for Submitters):

Save the Basin is encouraging submitters to:

Why are we asking submitters to say they want to appear in front of a Board of Inquiry?

How scary is it to appear before a Board of Inquiry?

Not very scary! You’re not on trial – NZTA’s proposal is. The Board is a lot less formal than a court room. You don’t have to do it alone. You can bring a support person. Save the Basin will endeavour to have someone at the hearing at all times.

If you find later that you aren’t available or can’t face the Board you can always pull out, or get someone else to appear on your behalf (see below).

Other points about appearing before the Board

PART TWO – IDEAS TO HELP YOU MAKE A SUBMISSION

Set out below are some key headings and bullet points that may give you some ideas on what to say in your own words why you are against the flyover. Please note that we do not want lots of identically-worded submissions – these points are meant only as a guide. But you should make sure to include each topic area that concerns you in your submission, so that you can return to it in later evidence to the Board if you wish.

The Personal Touch

For Cricket Fans and Players

Urban Design and Heritage

Environment, Safety and Health

Transport

For more ideas on what to say in a submission you might want to go to:

The Save the Basin presentation from our public meeting on 3 August (PDF, 1.5MB) that is now available on our website. (Or just see savethebasin.org.nz)

Environmental Protection Authority – Friend of the Submitter

You can find information about this and the Friend of the Submitter sessions on the EPA website.

Some News Media Stories:

Dominion Post: Wind Gusts Pose Potential Hazard On Flyover

Wellington Scoop: Richard Reid – Why One Basin Flyover Will Be Followed By A Second Flyover

Wellington Scoop: Packed Theatre Hears Richard Reid Warn Of “Irrevocable Damage” From Second Flyover

KEY POINTS

  1. Make a written submission by 5pm on Friday 6 September 2013
  2. Cover all the topic areas you are concerned about, at least briefly
  3. If at all possible, ask to speak at the Board hearing
  4. Keep in touch with Save the Basin to find out the latest

Save the Basin Flyover Presentation – Full Of Good Submission Ideas

The closing date for submissions on the proposed Basin flyover is 5pm on Friday 6 September. We’ve explained how to make a submission, and stressed the crucial importance of saying that you want to appear in person before the Board.

But what should you say in your submission? That’s up to you – a whole lot of identical submissions is the last thing we’re looking for – but here’s a presentation that can help give you ideas:

Save the Basin Flyover Presentation (August 2013) (PDF, 1.5 MB).

It’s based on the presentation given at our very successful public meeting on Saturday 3 August, and it’s full of very good reasons why a Basin Reserve flyover should not proceed.

We’re aiming to have a full Submission Guide on the site and distributed to our supporters by this time next week. But don’t feel you need to wait for that before you get cracking on your submission!

Auckland shows the legacy of NZTA-style transport planning
Auckland shows the legacy of NZTA-style transport planning

Basin Flyover Submission Process

The submission process for NZTA’s proposed Basin Reserve flyover has now been announced. You’ll find all the details on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Information for Submitters page and their downloadable Basin Bridge Information Sheet, but here are the main points:

We’ll be producing a submission guide and putting it up here soon, but the key points are:

Remember – we have had to listen to NZTA’s spin and lies for far too long. This hearing is the time when they have to sit there and listen to us. Let’s make the most of it.

Dominion Post Puts The Wind Up NZTA’s Flyover Plans

In a front-page story today the Dominion Post raised serious questions about the safety of the proposed Basin Reserve flyover in strong wind conditions. Journalist Tessa Johnstone drew attention to the statement in NZTA’s own resource consent application documents that wind gusts in the middle of the one-way flyover could be “extremely high” and NZTA’s admission that pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and the drivers of high-sided vehicles (e.g. vans and light trucks) could all be affected – with the risks, according to NZTA, running up to ‘complete overturning’ of high-sided vehicles.

NZTA says that it will put up guard rails on either side of the proposed cycleway/walkway. But when it comes to drivers and motorcyclists, NZTA’s proposed mitigation for this problem amounts to putting up warning signs on a route from which they have no escape!

As Cycle Aware Wellington’s Patrick Morgan states in the article, “Signage is not a solution, it’s an admission of failure.”

NZTA tried to downplay this story. They failed, and now one of the many deficiencies of this flyover proposal is out there in the public eye. In Save the Basin’s eyes, the whole flyover project is an admission of the Government and NZTA’s failure to deliver a modern, sustainable transport solution for Wellington. More of the proposal’s many failures will come to light over the next few months.

Snippets

 

 

“Helpful” Government Gives Our Public Meeting On Saturday 3 August A Publicity Boost

Want a good reason to attend the Save the Basin Public Meeting at St Joseph’s Church, cnr Brougham and Paterson Sts, Mt Victoria, from 4-5pm tomorrow, Saturday 3 August?

Well, if our original invitation wasn’t enough, now you have a new reason: The Government has just announced that the resource consent hearing will be before an EPA Board of Inquiry hearing rather than before the Environment Court, as Wellington City Council had recommended.

You can read the Minister’s announcement, and find out the names of those she has appointed to the Board of Inquiry, on Wellington Scoop.

We’d rather the Minister had taken a few more months – or years – to make her decision, but now we know exactly what we’re up against. We were already going to tell you about NZTA’s flawed and sloppy flyover proposal, and what it means for you.

Now we can also tell you with more confidence what the submission process will be, and how you can tell the Board, the Government, opposition political parties and the world at large that we do not want this ugly, outdated and unnecessary concrete monstrosity within a bull’s roar of the historic Basin Reserve.