Venu Menon
Wellington, July 21,2023
“Wellington and its innovative bike network has gained global recognition, $650,000 in prize money, and a place on the prestigious Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure (BICI),” boasts the Wellington City Council on its website.
The BICI supports 10 cities around the world through grants to build “safe, connected, and sustainable city cycling infrastructure.”
Wellington is one of 10 cities shortlisted from 270 worldwide to receive a BICI grant to “accelerate delivery of transformative cycling projects.”
The award recognises Wellington’s plan to “rapidly roll out a city-wide bike network, for its ambitiously innovative approach and its important partnership with mana whenua.”
Says Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau: “This endorsement of our rapid roll-out approach really puts the spotlight on the huge potential for better urban design and new ways of addressing urgent local and global climate issues.”
Mayor Whanau says Wellingtonians “asked for action on transport, climate, and housing which saw the Council commit to accelerating and completing the city’s bike network.”
She says the $650,000 prize money will be used in part “to progress the concept of a nature-based, off-road bike network.”
Off-road cycle trails are the brainchild of community group Trails Wellington and will be developed alongside Wellington’s on-road cycle network. Mayor Whanau says it presents a huge opportunity for Wellington to “become a world-class destination to experience and enjoy by bike.”
Trails Wellington patron Rod Drury says Wellington’s compact geography, closeness to nature and sense of community attracts talented people from all over the world.
“Trails Wellington is delighted to have moved a huge step closer to realising our vision of an off-road, nature-based biking network for Wellington. Connecting the on-road bike network to nature-based bike trails will provide for families, commuters, and tourists. This will be really special, and I hope every Wellingtonian gets behind the massive opportunities provided by this cycle-led renaissance,” Drury adds.
But Mayor Whanau strikes a more tentative note: “While we are doing what the majority of people have asked for, it was important that we also incorporated a robust way for the public to provide feedback.”
But the process of obtaining that feedback has not been robust enough, critics say.
In Karori, a Wellington suburb, around 200 people gathered at the local RSA on July 18 to hear a presentation on the Karori Connections Transport Plan as part of the bike network vision and roll-out by the Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council and Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM).
Some residents complained the process was not consultative enough with no time allocated for people to ask questions and hear answers or hold discussions.
“I was told we would have an opportunity for questions and that did not happen,” an irate resident told local media.
Wellington City Councillor Ray Chung, who attended the meeting, has acknowledged this.
“This is not consultation. Consultation has got to be two-way,” Chung is quoted as saying. “ I thought we were going to be listening to people’s views, listening to what they are saying.”
Similarly, the proposed Golden Mile inner-city upgrade has local business owners worried that widening footpaths and removing car parking will disrupt customer flow and affect their businesses.
Mayor Whanau has indicated that a business support package is in the offing for those businesses that may be affected by the construction of the Golden Mile upgrade, particularly along Lambton Quay, Willis St and Courtenay Place in central Wellington. But business owners are unsure when construction will start or what the support package will offer.
Last year, small business owners in Newtown, an ethnic business hub of Wellington, petitioned the Wellington City Council to stall roadwork for a proposed cycleway linking Newtown to the city. They complained the Council failed to hold consultation with business owners from the area before bulldozers started rolling.
But the Council argued there was substantial public consultation and engagement before roads were restructured to build cycleways in the suburb.
But for Urmila, who led the protest by business owners in Newtown, democracy is on test. “So, that’s the issue. No consultation, no democracy. And New Zealand is a democracy, not an autocracy.”
Venu Menon is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Wellington
