Wellington Mayor Justin Lester called out for 'backflip' over stance on transport plans

Tuesday, 3 September 2019

Wellington mayoral candidate Andy Foster says incumbent Justin Lester has backtracked on plans for an extra Mt Victoria tunnel. (File photo)

Wellington mayoral candidate Andy Foster has ripped into Mayor Justin Lester for his transport 'backflip', accusing the incumbent of 'making it up as he goes along'.

Lester said on Monday he wanted to fast-track business cases and resource consents for the proposed Mt Victoria and Basin Reserve tunnels, even though the extra Mt Victoria tunnel was delayed in the $6.4 billion Let's Get Wellington Moving package.

He also promised to increase bus driver wages and reduce public transport fares, despite that responsibility currently lying with Greater Wellington Regional Council, not the city council.

LGWM is a joint venture between the city and regional councils and the New Zealand Transport Agency. Lester says he drove the project on behalf of the city council.

Foster was critical of Lester's transport pledges, saying he is 'making it up as he goes along'. (File photo0

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Lester was Wellington City Council's chief negotiator on the $6.4 billion Let's Get Wellington Moving plan, which revealed a delay of at least five years to the extra tunnel. (File photo)

* Save the Basin comes out swinging

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Foster said Lester's statements were a 'desperate attempt' to backtrack on his previous stance.

'He is one of the architects of Let's Get Wellington Moving. LGWM specifically pushed back work on the … Mt Victoria tunnel duplication.

NZTA officials revealed they ignored official advice to prioritise an extra Mt Victoria tunnel as part of the Let's Get Wellington Moving programme. (First published in October 2019)

'Justin has been part of the Let's Get Wellington Moving Group for three years. In June, he largely stymied meaningful council debate on all the flaws in [the programme].'

Lester told councillors once the final package was decided it was 'the best deal he could get', Foster said.

'Most significantly, he and his supporters rejected an amendment saying a 10-year delay for the Basin Reserve improvements and the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel is unacceptable.

'Only myself and councillors [Diane] Calvert, [Malcolm] Sparrow and [Simon] Woolf voted for that.

'It is painful to see Justin Lester now trying to insist he wants early action on the Basin Reserve and second Mt Victoria tunnel.

'This is trust and confidence stuff, which should ring completely hollow for Wellingtonians stuck in traffic.'

Lester says although the tunnel project was delayed, he fought for it to be included in the final plan. (File photo)

Lester's plans for public transport were 'bizarre' given those decisions were made by the regional council, he said.

But Lester said Foster had been on the city council for almost 30 years and failed to secure any of the projects proposed in the LGWM programme.

'None of these projects have happened, despite him having the transport portfolio for more than a decade.'

Although the extra Mt Victoria tunnel had been delayed, Lester had advocated for the project to be included in the final plan, he said.

'That work has already started. This is the first time in 40 years Wellington has had broad consensus and broad support [for a major transport investment].'

Lester also promised to freeze public transport fares for three years, but they were put up by 3 per cent by Greater Wellington Regional Council last year. (File photo)

Public transport changes could be achieved with the help of a regional transport authority, he said.

A second Terrace tunnel, which Lester promised three years ago along with the extra Mt Victoria tunnel, failed to make it onto the LGWM plan.

JUSTIN LESTER'S TRANSPORT PLEDGES

* Look at establishing a regional transport authority to take over public transport, parking and roading

* Remove private vehicles from Golden Mile (part of LGWM)

* Reduce public transport fares

* Work with the government on its review into the public transport operating model

* Continue to build cycleways across the city and around Wellington Harbour

LESTER'S 2016 TRANSPORT PLEDGES

* Create regional transport authority (not met)

* Integrated ticketing on buses, trains and ferries (not met - under way, but at least two years away)

Lester also promised a second Terrace tunnel three years ago, but that project has failed to secure funding. (File photo)

* Freeze bus and train fares for three years (not met - 3 per cent general fare increase introduced last year)

* Public transport student discount (introduced last year, regional council initiative)

* Accurate real-time bus and train passenger apps (Metlink app introduced before 2016 still in use)

* Address, by 2025, congestion points at Ngauranga Gorge (no change), the Terrace Tunnel (failed to secure funding) and Basin Reserve/Mt Victoria tunnel (construction hoped to start by 2029)

* Remove general traffic from Lambton Quay and some side streets (not met - part of LGWM plans)

* Reduce regional council revenue gathered from public transport users (Wellington City bus users pay up to three times as much as other regional bus users)

* Invest in cycleway projects (various cycleway projects started or completed)

* Move to a fully-electric bus fleet (10 of the region's 460 buses are fully-electric)

* An earlier version of this story quoted Foster as saying the Basin Reserve improvements had been delayed as part of Let's Get Wellington Moving. A spokesman from Transport Minister Phil Twyford's office said this was not correct.