Category: Greater Wellington

Save the Basin Campaign recommends four Wellington mayoral candidates

Posted on by stb_nyltr0

The Save the Basin Campaign today named its preferred candidates for Wellington Mayor and other local body positions, based on responses received to a survey sent to all candidates. In alphabetical order, the mayoral candidates who are most likely to realise Save the Basin’s vision for the Basin Reserve and environs are Jenny Condie, Norbert Hausberg, Conor Hill and Justin Lester.

The recommendations were based on candidates’ responses to three questions:

1. What is your vision for Wellington City’s Basin Reserve and immediate environs (including the issue of a possible second Mt Victoria tunnel)?
2. How do you see the work of ‘Let’s Get Welly Moving’ impacting your vision for the Basin?
3. What do you intend to do, if elected, to promote your vision for the Basin and see it realised?

Save the Basin also recommended candidates for Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council and Capital and Coast District Health Board, based on responses received.

Commenting on the results, Save the Basin Campaign spokesperson Tim Jones said: “We’re pleased with the level of support expressed by most candidates for the Basin Reserve as a vital asset for Wellington. That’s a big shift from many candidates’ attitudes only a couple of elections back.”

“The main difference between the candidates who responded to our questionnaire is their attitude to whether a second Mt Victoria tunnel should be built, and if so, what it should be used for. Save the Basin opposes the construction of a second Mt Victoria road tunnel because it would significantly increase traffic, including heavy traffic, in the area of the Basin Reserve, and because we think that increasing road capacity is the wrong thing to do in a climate emergency.”

“So we have not recommended candidates who advocate bringing a second Mt Victoria road tunnel or other roading projects forward in Wellington’s transport plans. Save the Basin believes that we should put walking, cycling and other forms of active transport first, improve bus priority, and build a modern, efficient mass transit system. Let’s do all that and give it a chance to work before we consider spending any more money on new road capacity,” said Mr Jones.

“We know that candidates receive a lot of questionnaires,” said Mr Jones, “and that it’s tough finding time to fill them out, so we thank those candidates who did. We encourage voters to check out all the candidates and their policies.”

List of candidates recommended by Save the Basin on the basis of questionnaire responses received

Wellington City Council

Mayoralty
Jenny Condie
Norbert Hausberg
Conor Hill
Justin Lester

Wharangi/Onslow-Western Ward
Conor Hill
Richard McIntosh
Rebecca Matthews

Takapū/Northern Ward
Jenny Condie

Pukehīnau/Lambton Ward
Iona Pannett

Paekawakawa/Southern Ward
Fleur Fitzsimons
Laurie Foon
Humphrey Hanley

Motukairangi/Eastern Ward
Sarah Free

Wellington Regional Council

Pōneke/Wellington Constituency
Roger Blakeley
Yvonne Legarth
Tony de Lorenzo
John Klaphake
Thomas Nash
Daran Ponter
Helene Ritchie

Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai/Lower Hutt Constituency
Peter Glensor
Ken Laban
Josh van Lier

Porirua-Tawa Constituency
Phillip Marshall
Roger Watkin

Wairarapa Constituency
Adrienne Staples

Capital & Coast District Health Board
Roger Blakelely
Eileen Brown
Sue Kedgley

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

Posted on by stb_nyltr0

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.

You can:

 

Submission Guide: Let’s Get Welly Moving (LGWM) Scenarios – Submissions Close 15 December 2017

Posted on by stb_nyltr0

The Short Version

Got five minutes? Read this section and submit now!

Let’s Get Welly Moving (LGWM) still wants to build a motorway flyover (which they call a bridge) at the Basin Reserve!

LGWM has released four scenarios. These scenarios are very vague, but three of the four leave open the possibility of a Basin Reserve flyover:

  • Scenario A, if adopted, would not involve a flyover at the Basin.
  • Scenarios B, C or D could see a Basin flyover being built.

Here are alternative proposals and submission guides from other transport groups:

Submit before 15 December. You don’t have to go through the whole LGWM form. You can just comment on Scenario A (Step 1, near the bottom of that page), then skip to Step 6 to fill in your details and submit the form.

Tell LGWM something like:

Scenario A may be acceptable. However, I need more detail of what Scenario A involves before I can be sure. I reject Scenarios B, C and D.

or

Scenario A+ from FIT Wellington looks very promising and improves on Scenario A. I want to see Scenario A+ developed further. I reject Scenarios B, C and D.

and then add your other comments.

The Long Version

Got more time to submit?

1. Read our full Submission Guide (Click on the file name.)

2. Submit now!

Please submit. And please encourage your friends and networks to submit, too. 

Save the Basin Campaign appalled that Basin Reserve flyover plans remain on the table

Posted on by stb_nyltr0

The Save the Basin Campaign has said that aspects of the new Wellington transport plans unveiled today “feel like a slap in the face of the new Government”.

Several of the new “scenarios” for Wellington transport unveiled today by Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) – made up of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), Greater Wellington (GW) and Wellington City Council (WCC) – show that a version of the failed Basin Reserve flyover project (known as the Basin Bridge) remains on the table.

“NZTA’s Basin Reserve flyover project was an utter failure, and was rightly rejected by the courts,” said Save the Basin spokesperson Tim Jones. “LGWM and especially NZTA know people don’t want this failed flyover plan, yet here they go again!”

“It seems LGWM has learned nothing from NZTA’s track record of defeat,” said Mr Jones. “Have the last two years of ‘engagement exercises’ been a sham? What’s the point of putting us through all that malarkey only to come up with the same old, tired, motorway-dominated proposals?”

“These plans will not get Wellington moving. The induced demand of a road-first approach will just make traffic chaos throughout the city worse. We need to create viable transport alternatives to reduce dependence on private cars, and make travel easier and safer for the people who really need to use the roads.”

Mr Jones said that many other aspects of the new scenarios felt like a deliberate slap in the face of the new Government.

“The attempts to factor in the new Government’s aims of reducing carbon emissions and become a carbon neutral economy by 2050 are pathetic. There appears to be no attempt to take into account the new Government’s transport priorities. These scenarios look like they were drawn up by the National Party and rushed out at the end of the year to try to sneak them under the radar.”

In the 2014 Basin Bridge Board of Inquiry decision rejecting the previous flyover proposal, NZTA was taken to task for the many deficiencies in its consultation process. Mr Jones said the timing of the current round of consultation showed LGWM hasn’t learned from NZTA’s failures.

“LGWM has chosen to run a crucial consultation phase from now till mid-December, when people are caught up in the pre-Xmas rush,” said Mr Jones. “That looks a lot like a cynical attempt to minimise public input.”

“When and if LGWM provides a meaningful level of detail about their plans,” Mr Jones concluded, “Save the Basin will be able to decide if any of these scenarios are worth further consideration. Right now, it looks like LGWM needs to go back to the drawing board.”

Back to the Dirty, Smelly Past for Wellington’s Buses?

Posted on by stb_nyltr0

by Paul Bruce

Congestion Free Wellington held its first public meeting on 25th May with strong support for its Declaration. The meeting also showed strong support for the extension of our 100% clean and zero emission trolley buses on the east/west route at least until 2015, or when light rail should be commissioned.

The Sustainable Transport Committee on 21st March heard a request that a Business Case be carried out for Wellington’s trolley bus network, as the Council had at no time during the process, done this. The petition was supported by the Civic Trust, Sustainable Energy Forum, Living Streets Aotearoa, FIT, Save the Basin, OraTaiao and Dr Susan Krumdieck.

GWRC publicly stated goal is an all-electric bus fleet. It follows that the council make an objective assessment of the trolley buses contribution to city transport needs and environmental impact.

More than 300 cities around world are operating and expanding trolley bus networks. They are more popular because they are clean, quiet and quick. Lyon, France has new trolley buses, San Francisco and Seattle have large trolley systems and Beijing and Shanghai Beijing are reconverting failed battery buses to trolleys. Other cities such as Zurich and Istanbul, are building trolley buses with new technical developments to improve trolley bus performance.

Despite discussion and some Councillor support, the response through the Chief Executive was to reaffirm the decision to not renew the trolley contracts on 30 June, apart form short term extensions to aid transition to a new fleet.

We are deeply saddened by Council’s unwillingness to assess objectively the value of Trolley Buses, and also note the lack of transparency in confusing statements by the Chair maintaining progress towards a low emission fleet.

The proposed Wrightspeed hybrid replacement of the trolley buses by NZBus utilising a gas turbo (diesel) motor appears to be in trouble, with a wall of silence from all parties. Cr Daran Ponter said that it was unclear why the delays had occurred, and the patience of some councillors was wearing thin.

There are two aspects to emissions: air quality and greenhouse emissions (GHE), and the two should not be lumped together as higher air quality standards don’t always lead to lower GHE.

Scoop looked at what the new tender documents might mean:.

“When you look at last week’s announcements about new bus contracts, the Tranzit plan is described as building 228 new buses, all of them diesel though with Euro 6 certification, the highest global emission (air quality) standard…”  

Recent revelations relating to filters installed on vehicles, indicated that in the real world, performance was quite different to “in factory”.  Euro 5 and especially euro 6 filters are expensive to maintain on diesel buses, and the temptation will be to not renew so that their effectiveness will diminish over time. Euro 6 standards are still unable to remove the very small 2.5 micron particles which are responsible for cancers and respiratory disease leading to the WMO classifying diesel as a class one toxic carcinogenic equal to asbestos.

And we will never know how effective the filters are, as no testing is required in New Zealand – GWRC rejected my proposed amendment allowing for spot tests in future contracts.

There will be a jump in both greenhouse emissions and in particulates with more diesels on the golden mile, contrary to the claims of Chair Chris Laidlaw.  The Wrightspeed model will also lead to a decrease in air quality and an increase in greenhouse emissions. There is also serious concerns about their viability as no where else in the world have they been tested as part of an operational public transport fleet.

The public are asked to have faith that a profit driven operator will keep to set standards – a game of smoke and mirrors.

Meanwhile NZ Bus chief executive Zane Fulljames is saying his company hasn’t yet decided whether to buy Wrightspeed hybrids – it will decide during the testing process. Scoop reports Keith Flinders as saying:

Wrightspeed is hybrid technology and after 12 months since the first trolley bus conversion started it hasn’t been on trial yet. One might conclude that the GWRC is being misled on the suitability for this technology given Wellington’s terrain, and alas GWRC officers don’t have the engineering knowledge to decide either way.

The decommissioning of the Trolley Bus overhead electrical network is scheduled to commence in November 2017 with a planned completion date 12 months later.

Media Release: Clear Flaws in Let’s Get Welly Moving’s Scenario Assessment Process

Posted on by stb_nyltr0

The Save the Basin Campaign has welcomed the public release of Let’s Get Welly Moving’s long list of scenarios for the future of Wellington transport.

But spokesperson Tim Jones is concerned that some vital questions appear to have been ignored during the assessment process.

“First of all,” Tim Jones said, “Let’s Get Welly Moving didn’t release these scenarios until they were forced to by an Official Information Act request. If NZTA, Greater Wellington and Wellington City Council genuinely want informed public debate, they should have released these scenarios and workshop notes as soon as possible after the workshops in November 2016, not waited until June 2017 to do so.”

“Second, from the material released, it looks like some vital questions have not been asked during the assessment process. No consideration appears to have been given to either climate change or other public health issues, such as the excess deaths caused by pollution, especially from diesel engines.

“Both the Government and the local authorities have commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – why hasn’t the need to meet these commitments been put front and centre when developing and assessing these scenarios?” Tim Jones asked.

In terms of the Basin Reserve, Tim Jones said “We’re pleased that none of the scenarios appear to show a Basin Reserve flyover. But there is far too little detail shown in the material that’s publicly released to be sure what’s planned for the Basin. We need to see detailed proposals.”

In conclusion, Tim Jones said “The Basin Bridge Board of Inquiry made it very clear that assessment of alternative transport options needs to be thorough, transparent and replicable. We’re not sure that Let’s Get Welly Moving’s scenario development and assessment process has met those criteria, and we’ll be watching their next steps very closely.”

Tim Jones
Spokesperson
Save the Basin Campaign Inc

Capital Workers Ditching Cars, Says Dominion Post – 2017 Will Show Whether Transport Planners Are Up With The Play

Posted on by stb_nyltr0

Active modes, 1935 style
Active modes, 1935 style, at the Basin Reserve

The lead story in last Saturday’s Dominion Post was unequivocal: “Capital Workers Ditching Cars”, it said.

Stuff, the online equivalent, had a considerably less dramatic headline for the same story:

Wellingtonians among Australasia’s keenest public transport users but still keen to improve: http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/national/88145611/Wellingtonians-among-Australasias-keenest-public-transport-users-but-still-keen-to-improve

But the message is much the same.

That’s good news at the start of a year in which important decisions are likely to be made about the future of transport in Wellington. The NZTA/WCC/Greater Wellington Let’s Get Welly Moving project is running half-day workshops in February which will represent the first opportunity for the public to get to grips with LGWM’s transport thinking for Wellington in the wake of the defeat of the proposed Basin Reserve flyover.

Will LGWM’s transport thinking reflect recent developments in transport, mobility and access? Will it allow for a rapidly changing transport environment in which the need to:

  • reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport
  • increase resilience to climate change and natural disasters, and
  • account for improvements in light rail, growing demand for walking and cycling infrastructure, the rise of electric vehicles and vehicle sharing, and the prospect of autonomous vehicles

makes traditional “predict and provide” road planning increasingly outdated?

February should start to tell that story. Let’s hope it’s a good one, and if it isn’t, let’s be prepared to work to make it better.

Let’s Get Welly Moving Reveals Its Transport Objectives For Wellington

Posted on by stb_nyltr0

The long-running “Let’s Get Welly Moving” process that was set up after NZTA failed to get approval for its proposed Basin Reserve flyover is beginning to produce some results – and that means that supporters of sustainable transport options need to get involved to ensure a good outcome.

First, here’s how you can do that:

Let’s Get Wellington Moving have announced they plan to run some half-day workshops with the public in February to help them test and evaluate the draft ’scenarios’ they’ve been working on for Wellington transport – which will be the first sign we get of the next round of proposals for transport near the Basin Reserve.

LGWM say that they will select participants who represent a “balanced sample of interests”. But to give ourselves of the best chance of a good outcome, as many Save the Basin supporters as possible should sign up and say they want to attend.

To sign up, you need to complete a short (5-minute) survey, here: https://diagram.typeform.com/to/r46azO

But Let’s Get Welly Moving has also been making presentations to the City and Regional Councils – and we’ve learned that they have adopted the following five objectives for Wellington’s transport system:

A transport system that:

  1. Enhances the liveability of the central city
  2. Provides more efficient and reliable access for all users
  3. Reduces reliance on private vehicle travel
  4. Improves safety for all users
  5. Is adaptable to disruptions and future uncertainty

We understand that the City and Regional Councils have signed up to these objectives, which you can find in this public document:

http://www.gw.govt.nz/assets/council-reports/Report_PDFs/2016.516.pdf

and there’s more detail, including a useful summary graphic, in this Appendix:

http://www.gw.govt.nz/assets/council-reports/Report_PDFs/2016.516a1.pdf

These objectives look encouraging. Two of our key arguments against a Basin Reserve flyover were that it reduced the liveability of the central city and increased reliance on private vehicle travel, so the first and third objectives would make it very difficult for a flyover proposal to be put back on the table as an outcome of the Let’s Get Welly Moving process.

More generally, these look like good transport objectives for Wellington to follow – though the second objective could conceivably still be used by the four-lanes-to-the-planes crowd to argue for more roading, so they’re not an automatic win.

But – and it’s a big but – there are still substantial pockets of political opposition to those objectives, and to the third objective in particular.

That’s why we need to make sure that there’s a strong voice at the February workshops in favour of a more liveable city and reduced reliance on private vehicle travel. Sign up now to make sure sustainable transport voices are heard loud and clear!

Updated: Wellington Regional Council Candidates State Their Views On The Basin Reserve

Posted on by stb_nyltr0
  • Now updated with link to transport video from Wellington Constituency candidate Roger Blakeley

Save the Basin has asked Regional Council, Wellington City Council and Wellington Mayoral candidates three questions about the future of the Basin Reserve, whether they support a Basin Reserve flyover, and how they think Wellington should deal with the additional traffic forecast to enter the city from the north due to the Government’s motorway projects.

We’ll be publishing those answers this week. First, here are the answers from Regional Council (Greater Wellington) candidates – it’s important to know their views, as the Regional Council has a major role in transport planning.

Thanks to every candidate who responded – we appreciate you have a lot on your plates and lots of groups asking you to fill in questionnaires!

We suggest you also check out the Generation Zero local elections scorecards for a wider analysis of candidates’ views.

The Questions

  1. What in your view should be the future of the Basin Reserve cricket ground?
  2. Do you rule out supporting the building of a flyover at or next to the Basin Reserve?
  3. The scheduled completion of the Kapiti Expressway followed by Transmission Gully are forecast to flood Wellington with additional motorway-induced traffic from the north, including rush-hour commuter traffic. What measures do you propose to prevent this additional traffic degrading the liveability of inner-city Wellington and putting further pressure on Wellington’s transport system?

Who Gave The Best Responses?

Wellington Constituency: Of all the responses from existing councillors, I was especially impressed by the detailed thought Roger Blakely, Sue Kedgley and Daran Ponter had put into answering the transport aspects. Paul Bruce and Chris Laidlaw also gave strong, thoughtful responses very compatible with Save the Basin’s aims. 

Russell Tregonning, John Klaphake and (in lesser detail) Norbert Hausberg also gave responses that show they would be worthy additions to the Regional Council. Here I should add that Russell has a long track record of action to support sustainable transport and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Not surprisingly, we had fewer responses from other constituencies. Of those, Nigel Wilson (Kapiti) gave a particularly supportive response.

The Answers In Detail

Wellington Constituency

Roger Blakeley

  1. My view is that it should stay as a cricket ground. I support the 9 principles that Save the Basin set out to be used to assess Wellington Transport Proposals, including: “2 THAT the cultural, heritage, recreational and amenity values of the Basin Reserve Precinct are protected and enhanced”.
  2. Yes, I rule it out.Congestion at the Basin Reserve will not be solved by building an additional Mount Victoria tunnel and 4-lane highway to the airport. All that will do is attract more cars and create more congestion. It has been proven around the world that cities cannot build themselves out of congestion, by building more roads or flyovers or lanes. I am one of 8 candidates for GWRC who are standing on a platform of promoting light rail from the railway station to the eastern suburbs and the airport, which among other benefits will provide an enduring solution to congestion at the Basin Reserve.International experience is that the superior service provided by light rail attracts an immediate increase of PT patronage (by as much as 25%). That will reduce the number of cars on the road and free up space for better walking and cycling facilities around the Basin Reserve.

    The argument for light rail in Wellington is simple. It is a better solution to Wellington’s congestion problems than extra road tunnels and ‘4 lanes to the planes’. Why? Because light rail will have three times the capacity of two Mt Victoria tunnels (12, 000 people per hour versus 4,000 people per hour). Also, light rail will have half the capital cost ($450M-$650M for light rail versus $1billion plus for NZTA’s proposal for additional tunnels and a multi-lane highway to the airport). And light rail will solve Wellington’s congestion problems at the Basin Reserve and the city centre. Light rail would therefore be a better transport investment than more tunnels and wider roads.

    Anyone who has travelled on light rail in Europe, North America, Australia and elsewhere will know that cities have adopted or are moving to light rail. If elected, I will want light rail evaluated in the ‘Get Welly Moving’ project and then a compelling case put to the Government that light rail should be funded by government as a public investment with a better return than additional tunnels and wider roads. It should not be a cost on the Wellington ratepayer. It should be funded by a transfer of funding from the Roads of National Significance (RoNS) project from Wellington Airport to the Terrace tunnel, which has a budget of $1 billion plus. Yes, that would require a change of government policy that currently fully funds state highways but not rail or light rail. Recent announcements from Auckland Mayoral candidate Phil Goff in support of light rail, and strong interest in Christchurch, indicate that it is likely that Wellington would not be alone in raising this with the Government. The time has come for NZ to ‘get on board’ light rail
.

    The proposed route from the Railway station to the airport would include Taranaki Street, Wallace Street, the Regional Hospital, Newtown, and Kilbirnie. That is, it bypasses the Basin Reserve. It is not just a route to the airport. It will, over time, become an extension to the rail public transport spine (that currently stops at the railway station) to the CBD, eastern and southern suburbs.

    Light rail will be supported by a network of complementary bus services, which will be all-electric. ‘Bus priority’ will help buses to provide reliable on-time services. That will allow seamless transfers between light rail and buses.

    Light rail will be electric and have zero carbon emissions. This change will significantly support the necessary transformation to a low carbon economy for Wellington Region. I am also standing on a platform of GWRC setting a regional target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050,  which is a much stronger target than NZ’s INDC at the Paris COP 21 of 30 % below 2005 levels by 2030.

  3. The introduction of light rail, with a seamless connection to the rail network at the railway station, will provide a strong incentive for those people who bring their cars into Wellington, to work or shop from elsewhere in the region, to switch to rail/light rail because of the much improved service standard. In the longer term when the Matangi units reach the end of their working life, we could make the transition to one spine from the wider region into the Wellington CBD and eastern and southern suburbs, as advocated byTrams-Action.I would also support congestion charging or variable electronic road pricing, to provide a financial disincentive for people to bring their cars into the city centre. I support the Singapore model of variable electronic road pricing, where the price increases as congestion increases (which I have seen in action).

    Here is Roger Blakeley’s video promoting light rail for Wellington: https://www.facebook.com/roger.blakeley.58

Paul Bruce

  1. The Basin Reserve is the only cricket ground in New Zealand to have Historic Place status (Category II) as it is the oldest test cricket ground in New Zealand.The ground has been used for events other than cricket, such as concerts, sports events and other social gatherings.
  1. The Basin Reserve is special, and should be protected as much as possible from visual and noise of the traffic in its vicinity.  The flyover will not fix traffic problems because of induced traffic, it will damage the urban environment and the Basin Reserve, it will spread the noise and emissions from traffic to a wider area (because it is elevated), affecting surrounding schools in particular, and it will waste a large amount of the money needed for sensible solutions.
  1. Long-term resolution of congestion has to be a city-wide solution that reduces single occupancy private vehicles use, through the provision of an attractive wide range of effective transport choices, and disincentives such as congestion charges.

Norbert Hausberg

  1. Leave the Basin as is
  1. No flyover
  1. As discussed in other meetings, the council should actively build parking buildings around Johnsonville and Tawa to facilitate park and ride and stop traffic into the city. But most importantly we have to reduce the public transport fares and further improve services. A 50% reduction will start to solve some problems. Or even better like a mayoral candidates suggestion in Christchurch, free public transport.

Sue Kedgley

  1. The whole area should have a proper heritage listing and it should be upgraded into an international cricket ground. The old heritage grandstand should be renovated. If that is not possible, another grandstand should be built in its place.
  1. No I don’t support a flyover and there are no circumstances that would change my opposition to any flyover at the Basin Reserve.
  1. Yes, there are predictions that an additional 3-10.000 cars could come into Wellington once Transmission Gully is completed. Clearly we cannot squeeze thousands more cars onto Wellington’s narrow streets without causing paralyzing congestion in Wellington, and degrading our entire inner city environment. Therefore we need to look at introducing long-stay parking charges and a congestion charge, on the one hand, and upgrading the rail network so that commuters prefer to travel into Wellington by train rather than by car. The rail network can be further upgraded by  additional park and ride facilities, more affordable fares, more frequent train services and the development of a light rail network that would connect to the existing rail network, so that commuters arriving at the Wellington railway station can cross the platform, board a light rail unit and travel to their ultimate destination, whether it is in the city, the hospital or the airport. We also need to encourage flexible working hours so that people do not all seek to travel into Wellington at the same time and build the Petone to Wellington cycleway so that commuters can travel into the city by bike. Within Wellington we need to encourage commuters to walk, cycle or catch the bus to work by increasing pedestrian areas in the city and making them safer; by establishing a network of safe, separated cycleways and by upgrading our bus network and making it more reliable and affordable.

John Klaphake

  1. I have no fixed views on what it’s future should be. I do not support the idea it should be done away with. It is part of the city’s fabric and I think we should protect it’s integrity and use it as a public asset for the city and region.
  1. I am not a supporter of a flyover at or next to the Basin. I was dead against this right from the start and gave a great sigh of relief when NZTA finally saw it was not a goer. I thoroughly comment the Save the Basin Campaign for the work and commitment they gave to protect the integrity of the Basin. I have thought and do believe there are better solutions to be found – we just need to sit down on an open and collaborative way and work out the long term strategy for dealing with congestion in Wellington as a whole (not just at the Basin). Perhaps when we do that we may actually see if there are any precursors for that pinch point.
  1. Transmission Gully and Kapiti Expressway are a worry. How do we manage those extra vehicles coming each day into the city? I don’t think I have any particular solution that would solve that problem, but perhaps we need to look at a tax for cars entering the city, higher car parking fees(?). But this would have to be in conjunction with incentives to use public transport. Having said that, the incentive to use public transport will only work if public transport is convenient (park and ride facilities, stations at convenient places), reliable, regular and affordable (and with integrated ticketing that had a high frequency use discount built in to it).I do hold out a lot of hope for Get Welly Moving. I have been to a few of it’s meetings and believe that as long as we keep the focus here we might actually have some good outcomes. Certainly the survey results are very encouraging, but we don’t want these results just to be set aside as it makes progress.

Chris Laidlaw

  1. The Basin Reserve should remain as a test cricket venue.
  2. I rule it out. It is not the key to unlocking the city’s congestion problem. We need a wider suite of interventions identified through the N2A project.
  3. I will be preparing a proposal for the regional land transport committee designed to gain regional  support and government backing for a suite of demand management tools to be sanctioned -( congestion charging, road pricing) and persuade Wellington City Council to work with GW on a review of on-street parking in the city.

Daran Ponter

  1. The Basin Reserve should be kept, as one of the world’s most beautiful cricket grounds, and an historic and essential part of Wellington.
  2. I rule out a flyover, as it would ruin this historic and attractive area. I support at grade improvements in the short to medium term with a cut and cover tunnel in the medium to long-term (North-South or East-West) if required.
  1. I propose the following measures:
  • Reduced public transport fares and off-peak fares
  • Integrated ticketing to promote ease of transit through the City.
  • More effective promotion of car pooling.
  • Inner-City speed restrictions
  • New car parking buildings restricted to the outskirts of the CBD.
  • Public transport, cycling and walking only in Lambton Quay
  • Better provision for bikes on trains and 100% bus fleet with bike racks.
  • More park and ride facilities to the North of the City
  • Potential move to congestion charging

Russell Tregonning

  1. This ground should be kept as a major public space for sport & recreation.
  1. I rule out a flyover.
  1. The influx of vehicles to the city post Transmission Gully can be controlled by a combination of congestion charging ( successful in other cities e.g. London); better, cheaper and more frequent mass electric public transport, including suburban electric buses ( preferably smaller)  linking to light rail along the main transport spine from rail station to eastern suburbs via the hospital. Publicly accessible car-sharing fleets will also cut down on the number of cars on the roads as will better, safer cycling and walking paths to encourage more healthy active transport. We should not try and solve the increasing congestion by building more urban motorways which will only increase the number of cars in the medium to long-term, along with their increased air pollution, climate-hostile emissions &  car crashes, and the associated decrease in physical exercise.

 

Wairarapa Constituency

David Holmes

As a Wairarapa candidate I do not have the balanced information to be able to make judgement.

If elected to GWRC I would be in a position after reading and listening to all arguments answer these questions.

 

Porirua-Tawa Constituency

Heidi Mills

  1. My initial thought is that it is an iconic and unique venue for Wellington and Cricket/open air events, unfortunately its siting was not future proofed with growth and change constantly threatening its ongoing existence and the daily demands of today’s society. I think it would be sad to lose it and feel with some smart and sustainable thinking it could remain as an extraordinary venue for Wellingtonians and alike in future years.
  1. I don’t think a flyover is the answer to solving the traffic issues of Wellington and I certainly have never come across/driven over one that enhanced an area.
  1. A road users charge would limit the users of the already over populated roads and also generate income that could support other initiatives  – this has worked elsewhere in the world. Also, better provision, affordability and accessibility of a wide range of public transport options that meet the need of the user.

 

Joern Scherzer

  1. I don’t currently have a position on the future the Basin Reserve, I am open-minded about any options.
  1. Assuming the ground remains there, I don’t support a flyover.
  1. The public transport system should continue to be improved. That includes making it easier for people to use public transport, and also encouraging new users to get onto it. Integrated ticketing has been talked about for at least 10 years, and the current plans by the Regional Council to only have integrated ticketing across all buses (excluding trains) by 2018 are inadequate. This must come sooner. Other measures include the changes in the bus network, priority measures for buses, and investment in electric buses as soon as possible.

 

Kapiti Constituency

Nigel Wilson

  1. Increasingly cricket matches of significance are being played at the Westpac Stadium. However Test matches are likely to continue at the Basin. I think the Basin needs investment and a major refresh as a venue.
  1. I am not a fan of the Basin Reserve Flyover so for me I rule it out.
  2. I believe the Expressway and Transmission Gully will create logjams around Tawa and there will be a long crawl into the city from there during peak times. The answer is, as it has always been, significant investment in public transport. I am a supporter of Light Rail and would like to see a proper feasibility study done as soon as possible.

 

So Many Candidates’ Meetings – So Many Questions They Need To Answer

Posted on by stb_nyltr0

It’s local body election time, and the candidates are subjecting themselves to a punishing schedule of meetings. With Celia Wade-Brown stepping down, the Mayoral election field appears to be wide open – and a number of the leading candidates have previously gone on record as supporting a Basin Reserve flyover.

So we think there are some important questions candidates need to be asked. Here are three suggested questions – but it’s always better to put them in your own words!

  1. What in your view should be the future of the Basin Reserve cricket ground?
  2. Do you rule out supporting the building of a flyover at or next to the Basin Reserve? If you won’t rule it out, under what circumstances would you support a Basin Reserve flyover?
  3. The scheduled completion of the Kapiti Expressway followed by Transmission Gully are forecast to flood Wellington with additional motorway-induced traffic from the north, including rush-hour commuter traffic. What measures do you propose to prevent this additional traffic degrading the liveability of inner-city Wellington and putting further pressure on Wellington’s transport system?

Of course, you may also have questions on other issues – for example, where do candidates stand on the proposed airport runway extension, or what’s their stance on light rail for Wellington, or what action do they plan to take on the threats climate change and sea level rise pose to Wellington?

The full schedule of local body election meetings is here: http://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/elections/elections-2016/meet-the-candidates

If you are in the inner city, there are four meetings to choose from next week:

  • Monday 12 September: Mt Victoria Residents’ Association meeting for Regional Council and Hospital Board candidates. Tararua Tramping Club, 4 Moncrieff St, Mt Victoria, Wellington 6011, New Zealand, 7-9pm.
  • Tuesday 13 September: Wellington Scoop Mayoral Candidates’ Meeting: http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=91992. PreFab, 14 Jessie St, Te Aro, Wellington 6011, New Zealand, 6-8pm.
  • Wednesday 14 September: “Can Wellington be the greenest little capital?” Mayoral candidates’ debate: http://www.sustaintrust.org.nz/event/mayoral-debate-can-wellington-be-the-greenest-little-capital/. Sustainability Trust, Forresters Lane, Wellington, New Zealand, 5.30-7.30pm.
  • Thursday 15 September: Mt Victoria Residents’ Association meeting for Mayoral and WCC Lambton Ward candidates. Tararua Tramping Club, 4 Moncrieff St, Mt Victoria, Wellington 6011, New Zealand, 7-9pm.