Lobby group Save the Basin comes out swinging against potential second Mt Victoria tunnel

Friday, 29 March 2019

Lobby group Save the Basin is readying itself for a fight to stop a potential second Mt Victoria tunnel. (File photo)

Save the Basin, the lobby group which helped bring down the Basin Reserve flyover proposal, is readying itself for another fight - this time to stop a potential second Mt Victoria tunnel.

The group has revealed it is strongly opposed to the prospect of a second vehicle tunnel, which is expected to be announced as part of a proposed multi-billion dollar package to fix Wellington's traffic congestion problems.

Members of the group helped to bring down the Basin Reserve flyover proposal in 2014.

Spokesman Tim Jones said on Friday the group was not opposed, in principle, to a second tunnel for cyclists, pedestrians, or mass transport, but would staunchly oppose a second vehicle or mixed-use tunnel.

Such a project would significantly increase traffic in the area, including at the nearby Basin Reserve roundabout, and damage the Mt Victoria Character Area in the south of the suburb, he said.

Save the Basin spokesman Tim Jones says a second tunnel will add significant traffic and disrupt the character of Mt Victoria. (File photo)

Save the Basin says a second tunnel would significantly increase traffic and damage the character of Mt Victoria. (File photo)

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A second tunnel is expected to be announced as part of a multi-billion dollar package to fix traffic congestion. (File photo)

It would also increase noise, vibration, and pollution.

Save the Basin led the campaign which scuppered the proposed Basin flyover - a two-lane highway 20 metres from the cricket ground.

The flyover was first proposed in 2011 and was eventually declined by a Board of Inquiry following a lengthy hearing in 2014. An appeal to the High Court was dismissed the following year.

The Let's Get Wellington Moving working group, a joint initiative between the New Zealand Transport Agency, Wellington City Council, and Greater Wellington Regional Council, was formed shortly afterwards, and tasked fixing traffic congestion between Wellington Airport and the Ngauranga Gorge.

National Party associate transport spokesperson Brett Hudson says the project cannot be held up by a 'small, but very well-organised' minority. (File photo)

Wellington Mayor Justin Lester, who is on the team's governance group, said Save the Basin's position did not reflect that of most Wellingtonians.

'We surveyed Wellingtonians on this and there was strong support for a second tunnel in Mt Victoria and for improvements at the Basin Reserve.'

Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Milford says Wellington will stagnate if held up by resource consent hearings. (File photo)

A Research New Zealand survey commissioned by the group last year found 62 per cent of the 1334 respondents supported a second tunnel, while only 9 per cent opposed. That rest were considered to be neutral.

Brett Hudson, associate transport spokesperson for the National Party, said people had now been waiting 500 days since public consultation was sought on four proposals released in 2017.

It was imperative the project was not held up any longer, he said.

'This group is basically saying to people stuck in traffic today, 'Tough luck'. And it is those people who will pay for the improved public transport systems they say they want.'

The second tunnel was a 'regional issue' because it was the main thoroughfare for anyone wanting to get to the airport, Hudson said.

'People can object to it, but you have to ask whether it's fair to be help up by a small, but very well-organised, group who have the ability to slow things down.'

A spokesman for Transport Minister Phil Twyford said the announcement was still 'quite a few weeks away', and was very unlikely to be made before May.

He reiterated no final decisions had been made.

Paterson St resident Mike Kooiman lives in a house owned by NZTA which would need to be demolished - along with many others - to make way for the second tunnel.

But Kooiman supported the second tunnel, saying it was needed.

'The sooner it goes ahead, the better. Congestion has got to be addressed, and by having a second tunnel, it would 100 per cent be better

'It's a bottleneck in one tunnel having two lanes in it. It's the best thing they could do to have a second tunnel.'

Kooiman said his lease would expire next June, and they planned to move anyway.

Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Milford did not want to speculate on the final proposal, but said it was important to realise the second tunnel might not be for vehicles only.

'What we have to do is create corridors for the movement of people. That could be mass transit, walking, cycling, or cars.

'It doesn't necessarily mean that's going to be dominated by cars, which I think is the inference Save the Basin is making.'

If the group did formally object to the proposal, then transport planners could apply to the Government to pass legislation allowing the project to go ahead.

That was the process followed for Wellington's Arras Tunnel, which opened in 2014, Milford said. 'We can't be held up, because the city will stagnate.'