Category: cricket

Wellington City Council’s Basin Reserve Masterplan and Greater Wellington’s Climate Change Strategy

Posted on by stb_nyltr0

Wellington City Council’s Basin Reserve Masterplan

Wellington City Council is finally developing a Basin Reserve Masterplan. That’s good: the lack of such a plan was adversely noted at the Board of Inquiry hearing. But it could also be bad: the Council may use it as a pretext to demolish the Museum Stand, which houses the New Zealand Cricket Museum, and to make other changes which may adversely affect the Basin.

So we need to be vigilant, and we need to have our say. It’s not yet possible to submit directly on the Masterplan itself, but the seeds of it are sown in the Council’s 10-year Long Term Plan at http://www.our10yearplan.co.nz/ – itself a very important document to submit on, as other planning documents are derived from it:

The general supporting documents for the LTP are below:

http://www.our10yearplan.co.nz/supporting-documents/

The document which mentions the Basin is below:

http://www.our10yearplan.co.nz/assets/Supporting-documents/long-term-plan-consultation.pdf

P. 37 mentions the Basin Reserve Masterplan.  Cost is at $21m.  Note that the actual master plan will be brought back to Council later in the year.  The actual detail is not in the Plan which will make it a bit difficult to feed back on but think it important that high level feedback is given through this process.

The supporting document that discusses the Basin Reserve makes it clear that the future of the Museum Stand is still under threat – there’s a risk it may be demolished, and with it the Cricket Museum which it houses. So you might want to submit on these points:

  • No flyover or similar transport project should be allowed to threaten the future of the Basin!
  • Preservation of the Museum Stand and the New Zealand Cricket Museum
  • Emphasis the importance of the Basin to Wellington, not just as a cricket ground but a recreation facility.

Submissions on the Long Term Plan close on Friday 17 April and can be made at https://submissions.wellington.govt.nz/submission.aspx

Greater Wellington’s Climate Change Strategy

Greater Wellington (aka Wellington Regional Council), while busily supporting more motorways and longer airport runways, is at the same time developing its climate change strategy, which is meant to cover both actions the region should take to reduce its contribution to climate change, and actions needed to adapt to the effects of climate change, such as sea level rise, storm surges, coastal erosion, flooding, and increased extreme weather events.

You have until Friday 10 April to have your say on the draft plan, which might be a good opportunity to point out any contradictions you see between the Council’s words and its actions, as well as recommending actions you think the region needs to take: http://haveyoursay.gw.govt.nz/climate-change

Cricket Experts: Basin Reserve’s Future At Risk

Posted on by tjonescan
Basin Reserve rainbow. Photo: Patrick Morgan.
Basin Reserve rainbow. Photo: Patrick Morgan.

It was a typical Wellington day yesterday at the Basin Reserve. The sun shone, the wind blew, the rain fell – and then, just as the day’s proceedings at the Basin Reserve flyover Board of Inquiry finished, this beautiful rainbow crowned the day.

But the outlook for Test cricket at the Basin Reserve would be a lot less attractive if plans to build a motorway flyover along the northern and north-western boundary of the ground go ahead.

At the hearing yesterday, such distinguished formers cricketers and cricket administrators as Martin Snedden and Sir John Anderson warned of the risks the proposed flyover would pose to the future of cricket at the Basin. Martin Snedden called flyovers “hideous”, and was concerned to learn that, according to the Transport Agency’s own expert witnesses, moving traffic on the flyover would still be visible from the playing surface and to spectators even if the Transport Agency’s proposed screening options are put in place.

Spectators might vote with their feet. The International Cricket Council might withdraw the Basin’s accreditation as Test match venue. The only sure way to prevent a flyover putting the Basin’s future at risk is for the flyover not to be built.

Here is domestic and international media coverage of the day’s cricket evidence:

Basin Flyover Hearing Heads To The Basin Reserve

Posted on by tjonescan

With the three-month extension to the Basin Reserve flyover hearing, the hearing has had to find a new venue – and it has settled on the Norwood Room in the RA Vance Stand at the Basin Reserve, where the hearing will be held from today (Monday 31 March) onwards.

It seems appropriate that a hearing on a project that could, according to cricket witnesses called by the Basin Reserve Trust, place the future of Basin Reserve as a Test cricket ground in jeopardy, is heading to ‘the scene of the crime’. There remains a lot to be said at the Hearing about the urban design, heritage, landscape and cricket-related flaws of NZTA’s flyover plans. It will be easier to make those flaws vivid when the setting that would be affected is right outside the window.

A recent Dominion Post article highlights the threat to the Basin Reserve as a cricket ground from the proposed flyover:

Flyover view may dismiss Basin Tests.

There’ll be more to come!

Show Your Love For The Basin This Valentine’s Day

Posted on by tjonescan

The Save the Basin Campaign is calling on Wellingtonians to show their love for the Basin Reserve this Valentine’s Day, Friday 14th February, which is also with the first day of the second test match between New Zealand and India.

Attendees at the “Love the Basin” event, to be held at the northern entrance to the Basin, will be invited to write a note stating why they love this iconic part of our city. Save the Basin Campaign spokesperson Tim Jones says: “This is an opportunity for the community to share the many reasons we love the Basin Reserve and why we continue to oppose construction of the proposed flyover on the ground’s northern boundary.”

Tim Jones says that supporters of Save the Basin Campaign have rallied behind the cause for many reasons. These range from the heritage values of the precinct and the fact that it is a world class test-playing venue, through to the unnecessary and ugly nature of the proposed flyover. “There are also many Wellingtonians who enjoy and use the Basin as an open green space with views to the surrounding Town Belt.”

The Save the Basin Campaign is one of a number of community groups and numerous individual citizens who are currently involved in the Board of Inquiry process to review the NZTA’s application for resource consent to build a flyover at the northern end of the Basin Reserve. A final decision is due out later in the year.

The “Love the Basin” event will start at 10am and is being held at the northern end of the Basin Reserve, near the C.S. Dempster Gate. A speech and opportunity for photographs will be held at approximately 10.20am. The event will go ahead regardless of the weather and those that are unable to attend are asked to send a message stating why they love the Basin Reserve to stoptheflyover@gmail.com.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/201680093364430/

Show Your Love For The Basin Reserve This Valentine’s Day

Posted on by tjonescan

love_the_basin_logo

Save the Basin invites you to come show your love for the Basin Reserve on Valentines Day, Friday 14 February. Meet at the northern end of the Basin Reserve, near the CS Dempster Gate, at 10am to show your support for the iconic Basin Reserve precinct, and why it’s just too precious to spoil with the construction of the proposed flyover. Bring your banners, signs and anti-flyover T-shirts, but most of all your love for this nationally significant part of our city.

Friday 14 February is also the first day of the New Zealand-India cricket Test at the Basin, so plenty of people will witness your declaration of love for the Basin!

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/201680093364430/

What’s The Basin Reserve Flyover Issue All About?

Posted on by tjonescan

In case you’re new to the issue, here’s a quick introduction to what’s being proposed for the Basin Reserve, why the Save the Basin Campaign is opposed to it, and what you can do to help.

What’s the Basin Reserve?

The Basin Reserve is a recreation ground near the centre of Wellington. It is best known for being Wellington’s Test cricket ground, and has often been praised for its setting and its beauty.

What’s proposed for the Basin Reserve?

The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), as part of the current New Zealand Government’s focus on building more motorways rather than funding public transport, walking and cycling, is planning to build a 10-metre-high one-way motorway flyover on the north-western boundary of the Basin Reserve at an estimated cost of at least $100 million. If built, it will be clearly visible from many parts of the ground.

Hang on a minute, did you say “one-way”?

It’s bizarre, but true. All this effort, expense and disruption is for the sake of a one-way road, running east to west. In fact, one of the many concerns about this proposed flyover is that it, if built, it may need to be followed by a second unsightly flyover running in the opposite direction.

What effect would a flyover have on cricket at the Basin?

Nobody is quite sure, but a number of senior international cricketers and cricket officials have expressed serious concerns at the potential effects on players, and also on the Basin’s future as an international cricket ground. We’re told that ‘mitigation measures’, mainly in the form of a new structure designed to block the view of the flyover from the pitch, have been agreed, though details have yet to be released of this agreement, but these measures don’t appear to shield the flyover from many fielders or spectators.

Why does NZTA want to build a flyover?

The NZTA is trying to convert the present route through Wellington to Wellington Airport into a motorway designed to carry increasing numbers of cars, even though traffic volumes are dropping. It wants to build a flyover as part of this route, and has been determined to do so for many years, despite a great deal of evidence (that will be presented at the forthcoming Basin flyover hearings) showing that a flyover is not necessary. NZTA has deliberately skewed figures to make other transport solutions appear not to be viable.

Was there any consultation before NZTA went ahead with its plans?

If you can call it consultation: NZTA gave Wellingtonians the option of agreeing to a flyover, or a slightly different flyover. NZTA ignored the many submissions calling for there not to be a flyover and then announced one of the flyovers as the preferred option. This is, sadly, typical of NZTA’s approach to engaging with the public.

What happens next?

The Government has set up a Board of Inquiry to hear the resource consent application to build what NZTA persists in calling a Basin “Bridge” – presumably because it realises the public doesn’t like flyovers. The Board of Inquiry hearing is scheduled to begin on Monday 3 February and is expected to report by the end of May. Save the Basin Campaign and an number of other organisations are presenting detailed cases covering why a flyover is unnecessary and shouldn’t be approved.

We hope that this Board of Inquiry will fully and carefully consider the question of whether the flyover should go ahead. However, the Government set up the Board of Inquiry process to fast-track projects it wants to see go ahead, and so far, that’s what Boards of Inquiry have done.

If the Board rules that the project should not go ahead, it will have made the right decision. And if it rules otherwise, we still have other legal avenues open to us.

You keep saying the Government is behind this project. Do all political parties support it?

Absolutely not! In fact, five parties have stated their opposition to a Basin Reserve flyover: Labour, the Greens, New Zealand First, the Mana Movement and United Future. It’s entirely possible that the Government that emerges following the 2014 General Election may be opposed to a Basin Reserve flyover going ahead.

How can I help?

We’ve listed a number of ways, but the two most important things you can do are:

Basin Reserve Trust Cricket Witnesses Seriously Concerned By NZTA’s Plans

Posted on by tjonescan

I spent a very interesting couple of hours at the weekend reading the evidence of the cricket witnesses called by the Basin Reserve Trust for the forthcoming Board of Inquiry on the proposed Basin Reserve flyover.* You can find these statements online at http://www.epa.govt.nz/search-databases/Pages/nsp-proposals-details.aspx?ProposalNumber=NSP000026#

I expected this evidence to be full of reassurances about how the NZTA had cricket’s best interests at heart, but that is strikingly not the case. Here are some of the statements made by these cricket experts in their evidence:

Sir John Anderson, former Chair of NZ Cricket: “I consider that a failure to adequately mitigate the effects of the Proposal on the Basin Reserve could potentially affect the test match status of the ground.”

Peter Clinton, CEO of Cricket Wellington: “The proposed Basin Bridge will have a significant impact on the Basin Reserve. The Basin Bridge will impact the Basin Reserve in the following ways:
(a) Visual distraction for sportspersons;
(b) Loss of spectator enjoyment;
(c) Potential loss of ICC accreditation as an international cricket ground; and
(d) Impact on the Basin Reserve’s unique character and ambience.”

Martin Snedden, former New Zealand cricketer, sports administrator: “The Application [by NZTA] and the Evidence in Chief used inappropriately narrow criteria to determine how the view of traffic on the Basin Bridge might adversely impact the Basin Reserve.”

With the future of the Basin at stake, such statements should concern all cricket players, administrators and fans.

It’s also clear that the proposed Northern Gateway Building is far from a panacea for these problems, and that there are issues with its design and use – something that also became very clear when, at a meeting between submitters and the NZTA, Greg Lee of the NZTA was asked to explain and justify the design and cost of the Northern Gateway Building, and was unable to do either convincingly.

* Some witness statements may not be provided until later this week.