Wellington Scoop, which broke the story of Chris Moller’s conflict of interest as both the chair of New Zealand Cricket and the chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency, is now reporting further developments in the affair. As NZTA Deputy Chair Patsy Reddy scrambles to put a lid on the issue, digging into NZTA Board meeting minutes is uncovering what appear to be notable inconsistencies.
Keep up with the latest developments here: http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=51598
Chris Moller, who chairs both New Zealand Cricket and the New Zealand Transport Agency, has admitted that he has a conflict of interest over NZTA’s proposed Basin Reserve flyover, which will seriously affect the viability of the Basin Reserve as an international cricket ground if it goes ahead.
Lindsay Shelton of Wellington Scoop first drew this conflict of interest to public attention: http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=51235
Now, as Lindsay reports: http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=51558, NZTA has written to Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown admitting that Moller, who is best known for his and his board’s disastrous mismanagement of the New Zealand cricket captaincy issue, has a conflict of interest, and saying that he will no longer be involved in discussions over Basin transport options.
This admission is a welcome development, but it begs some very big questions: Has Moller been involved in discussions so far when he and his Board surely knew of this conflict of interest all along? If his involvement is inappropriate from now on, then was it not inappropriate from the start?
Plus there’s the continuing question: why should a board chair who has made such a mess of New Zealand Cricket be trusted to make anything better than a mess of New Zealand’s transport system?
We eagerly await further revelations about this conflict of interest. In the meantime, it’s also notable in Wellington Scoop’s latest report that NZTA are now trying to sweet-talk Wellington City Council over its pre-Christmas vote to reject the flyover and explore alternative options, having failed to bully them into submission.
Here’s a helpful hint for NZTA’s PR flacks: you’re supposed to show the velvet glove before the iron fist, not the other way around.
What did the New Zealand Transport Agency do when it found out that Wellington City Council was holding a vote on the flyover yesterday? It rushed out a letter to the Council’s Chief Executive threatening to withdraw support and funding for other transport projects in Wellington if the Council did not support the flyover.
Well, it didn’t work. The Council voted to reject the flyover and investigate other options. And now we have obtained a copy of NZTA’s letter to the Council, which showcases NZTA’s characteristic mixture of bullying and petulance. See for yourself:
NZTA Letter to Wellington City Council Chief Executive (scanned PDF)
The Save the Basin Campaign has put out the following press release in response to yesterday’s Wellington City Council vote to reject the proposed Basin Reserve flyover and explore other options:
Save the Basin Campaign Applauds Wellington City Council Vote
The vote by Mayor Celia Wade-Brown and Wellington City Council has demonstrated again that the city won’t be pushed into accepting a terrible plan by NZTA to destroy the historic Basin Reserve environment.
Traffic and transportation design can be better managed than falling back on last century’s plans for a flyover that has no relation to the surrounding neighbourhoods and fails to integrate into the new War Memorial Park green span.
This vote will help to ensure that the Basin won’t sit beside an ugly, noisy concrete structure that intrudes onto the atmosphere of one of the world’s oldest and grandest cricket grounds.
Greater Wellington Regional Council has already withdrawn its previous backing for a Basin Reserve flyover and instead voted to take another look at transport options around the Basin. We call on Wellington City Council and the Regional Council to work together on the alternatives, to go to NZTA with the same message and to oppose NZTA’s flyover proposal if it progresses to a Board of Inquiry.
It’s time to listen to the thousands of Wellington residents and visitors who oppose the flyover, and for the government to instruct NZTA to scrap this outdated plan and look at better, more practical solutions to traffic at the Basin Reserve.
This vote follows other cities throughout the world which have rejected flyovers – Boston, New York, Melbourne, Toronto, Seoul, Boston, Milwaukee, Vancouver, Trenton, Portland, Chattanooga. And Auckland City Council is planning to tear down the Hobson street flyover.
The Save the Basin Campaign is a group of people working to stop the building of a traffic flyover which is planned by NZTA to curve around one of the most historic cricket grounds in the world, the Basin Reserve in Wellington New Zealand.
We advocate a better planned alternative which include a region-wide solution to transportation problems and would include light rail, strategic bus lines, and consideration of walking, biking, and the configuration of Wellington.
– Alana Bowman and Joanna Newman, Save the Basin Campaign Spokespeople
Our new campaign video shows what a flyover – a realistic flyover, not NZTA’s lighter-than-air design fantasy – would look like next to the Basin Reserve.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-3JKaaw_iA&w=640&h=360]
Don’t like the look of it? Neither do we.
Want to do something about it? Share the video, and get involved in the campaign.
Stop Press
Did you know that Chris Moller, the chair of New Zealand Cricket who has overseen the recent PR disaster that has been Ross Taylor’s sacking as Black Caps captain, is also the chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency? On Wellington Scoop, Lindsay Shelton asks:
a) What Moller’s dreadful performance as head of New Zealand cricket says about his fitness to chair NZTA, and
b) Whether his chairing both bodies constitutes a conflict of interest.
You can read Lindsay’s article here:
http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=51235
Please comment and share it – especially with cricket-minded friends.
The New Zealand Transport Agency doesn’t think the slopes of Mt Victoria make a good background for cricket. So they’d like to add their own unique brand of decoration:
We think the Basin, cricket, and Wellington could do without the NZTA’s ideas of what constitutes good urban design. We think the NZTA should join the rest of us in the 21st century, where cities are tearing down flyovers, not building them.
If you agree with us, here is what you can do about it – and here is something that needs doing right now.
The Regional Council voted on a motion by Cr Paul Bruce to review their support for the transport plan that supported the flyover.
Stuff’s online poll gave the majority to go with the tunnel as the best option – 48% over 38% against those who favoured the flyover. But views within the Regional Council are still finely balanced. We encourage you to email your regional councillors (being careful not to spam them with too many bulk emails) and encourage them to refuse to support a Basin Reserve flyover. Their email addresses are:
Have you had enough of the Government and the NZ Transport Agency trying to bulldoze through their ugly, unnecessary and expensive Basin Reserve Flyover plan in the face of public opposition?
Whether you’re a local resident, a cricket fan, or someone who wants to see Wellington develop as a modern, sustainable city, it’s time to get organised and fight back.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Here is a round-up of recent Save the Basin Campaign news:
A big win around the Regional Council table
Thanks to the good work of Cr Paul Bruce and like-minded colleagues, the Wellington Regional Council (Greater Wellington) has withdrawn its previous backing for a Basin Reserve flyover and instead voted to take another look at transport options around the Basin. This means that two of the three supposed partners in this project do not support it, as Wellington City Council had already voted for an alternative option. Read the full story of this significant victory for our campaign here:
A new alternative to the flyover
As this Wellington Scoop article describes: http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=50038, a new alternative proposal for the Basin has been set in front of the Councils and the Government by Richard Reid and Associates. We’re glad to see that organisations concerned about sustainable transport and sensible urban design are continuing to put forward alternatives to the costly, unnecessary, ugly and disruptive flyover planned by NZTA, and we look forward to hearing more about this latest proposal.
Coming up: our public meeting on Wednesday 21 November
We have a public meeting coming up later this month. We’ll be announcing more details soon, but here are the vital ones:
Date: 21 November
Venue: St Joseph’s Church, Mt Victoria (view map)
Time: 6 – 7.30pm
Before that, please come to our next Save the Basin organising meeting. It’s on Wednesday 14 November from 5.30-7pm – please email stoptheflyover@gmail.com for venue details.
And if you can’t make the meeting but would still like to help out, or would like to go on our mailing list, please email stoptheflyover@gmail.com anyway.
Get involved
Thanks to the good work of Cr Paul Bruce and like-minded colleagues, the Wellington Regional Council (Greater Wellington) has voted to re-examine all the options for the Basin reserve, thereby backing away from their previous vote in support for the flyover project. This means that neither the Wellington City Council nor Greater Wellington are in favour of the flyover that their supposed partners, the New Zealand Transport Agency, are trying to push through.
On Wednesday, a meeting of the Council voted 7 to 6 in favour of a motion by councillor Paul Bruce, which stated that “in light of the decision to place Buckle St in a tunnel, the council resolves that Greater Wellington should work with NZTA and [Wellington City Council] to ensure that the full range of options for freeing up public transport movements through the Basin Reserve are on the table”.
Instead, the Council has resolved to “work with the NZ Transport Agency and the Wellington City Council to ensure that the full range of options for freeing up public transport movements through the Basin Reserve are on the table.”
This is excellent news. The Wellington Regional Council has joined Wellington City Council in recognising that, at a time of declining traffic movements and growing concern about climate change, the flyover is an expensive, unnecessary and massively disruptive white elephant. Now we all need to work together to get that message through to NZTA and to the Government.
Media coverage
Wellington Scoop: Regional Council to reconsider its support for Basin Reserve flyover
Wellington Scoop: A second alternative to the flyover, and a change of heart by the Regional Council – the material about the new option developed by Richard Reid and Associates is particularly well worth reading.
Stuff (Dominion Post): Flyover debate reopened over ‘option X’