Leaders reject advice to pause $6.4b Wellington transport upgrade, warning public would be 'apoplectic'

Friday, 12 February 2021

Wellington can’t afford to pause its $6.4 billion beleaguered transport upgrade, political leaders say, despite a scathing review warning a major rethink is needed to avoid possible failure.

The delays come amid mounting concerns about the future of the capital’s creaking infrastructure, including its transport network, and the growing cost to the public purse of upgrading it.

The 20-year programme, called Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM), is meant to include a new road at the Basin Reserve, a second Mt Victoria tunnel and a new mass public transport connecting the airport and the city.

**READ MORE:

* D-day for Let's Get Wellington Moving as review set to drop

* As Auckland prepares for car-free Queen St, Wellington's Golden Mile is stuck in neutral

* What can people expect to see from the $6.4 billion Let's Get Wellington Moving programme in 2021?

**

Is September, the LGWM board commissioned external consultants to conduct a review of the programme amid growing concerns about delays. The findings were made public on Friday and made for damning reading.

It found that the programme was “at risk of failing to deliver”, and needed to be paused so major problems could be addressed. Problems, may that have persisted since LGWM’s inception five years ago, included under-resourcing, staff shortages, lack of expertise, and a lack of “strategic leadership”.

“Within the LGWM team, there is a lack of proven experience and expertise in delivering within a complex and large-scale integrated programme environment.”

The review said its recommended pause would have implications for the “time frames, scope and cost” of transport projects in Wellington.

“We consider this is preferable to the risk of failure to deliver the desired outcomes under the current approach.”

However, the review’s recommendation that the programme be paused was rejected by local and central political leaders, with one claiming the public would be “apoplectic” at further delays.

Greater Wellington Regional Council chair Daran Ponter, who sits on the LGWM governance reference group, said the review represented a “snapshot in time”, and work on the programme had not slowed down.

“There actually hasn’t been a pause, and I, for one, will not be agitating for a pause.

“That would just send the public apoplectic.”

Transport minister Michael Wood was also quick to reject the recommendation. In a letter sent on Friday to the LGWM leadership, Wood said the review’s recommendation to “pause” the programme was “unacceptable”, and set a two-week deadline for the LGWM leadership to produce a new plan to solve the capital’s transport woes.

“Wellingtonians have been waiting too long on progress to unlock our capital city’s potential,” he wrote.

“It is my view that pausing to reconsider those objectives will only cause further delay in the programme. The only way we will restore public confidence is by making progress.”

He urged board members to get on with the projects that were smaller in scale or more advanced in planning, including plans to improve walking and cycling options, and bus priority measures.

“My expectation is that Waka Kotahi [NZ Transport Agency] will work with Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington [Regional Council] to support delivery on a timetable that helps to build public confidence and a sense of momentum.”

LGWM is a partnership between Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council, and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, overseen by a governance board and run by programme director Andrew Body.

On Friday, a spokesperson for the programme said Body was not available for interviews to respond to the review, or the possibility of further delays.

Instead, LGWM issued a statement saying the programme’s three partners welcomed the “health check”, and progress had already been made to address the recommendations made since it first received the report in December.

“LGWM had been working on developing a new vision, objectives, and mix of investments for the programme, along with new funding estimates,” it said.

This work would be completed in March, the statement said.

Wellington Mayor Andy Foster, who also sits on the LGWM reference group, said a reset was “being done”, which included work to “get the culture and morale of the organisation on track”, but there would be no pause.

“Some great technical work has been done and the last thing we want to do is to pause that.”

Other regional mayors were unimpressed with the project’s progress and said after five years, the time for talking was over.

“We don't need to spend six months focusing on what we need to do, we need to get some diggers in the ground”, Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy said.

Porirua Mayor Anita Baker said she’d be “appalled” if they had to start the process again. She said the last round of planning and talking had lasted five years in which little had been done and the new problem with Wellington’s water pipes had compounded problems.

The Big Ideas

*all costs are forecast, and have not been confirmed

Second Mt Victoria tunnel, $700m – Includes widening Ruahine St and Wellington Rd.

Basin Reserve tunnel, $190m – a solution for the congested Basin Reserve roundabout on State Highway 1 is said to to include a tunnel under Sussex St

Mass rapid transit, $2.2b – The preferred technology and route is yet to be determined. A proposed route in the LGWM plan runs from Wellington Railway Station along the waterfront quays, up Taranaki St, and past the Basin Reserve to Newtown and the airport.

Golden Mile revamp, $80 million – The most radical plan would remove cars and car parks from the area, significantly widen footpaths and turn several side streets in Wellington’s inner city into pedestrian-only zones.

Reaction to Let’s Get Wellington Moving review

'We don't need to spend six months focusing on what we need to do, we need to get some diggers in the ground.' – Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy

”Wellingtonians have been waiting too long on progress to unlock our capital city’s potential.” – Transport Minister Michael Wood

“I can’t see how they’re thinking about how these projects might work alongside housing and public health.” – Dr Imran Muhammad, transport and urban planning academic

“We need to get cars off the road, and we need a reliable fast mass transit system that can be set up quickly.” – Road Transport Forum chief executive and former Porirua mayor NIck Leggett

“We’ve made some decisions, and now we have to get on with it and do the work.” – Porirua Mayor Anita Baker