An extra $5 million since Friday: Golden Mile compromise on the cards

Monday, 26 June 2023

A compromise to drastically scale back Wellington’s Golden Mile revamp is on the cards as the latest figures show yet another multimillion-dollar blowout before work has even started.

It comes at a crucial time for the $7.4 billion Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) transport overhaul – of which the Golden Mile revamp from Courtenay Place to Lambton Quay is a key component – with a group of six councillors forcing a vote this Thursday that could see the council withdraw from LGWM entirely.

The Golden Mile revamp was projected to cost up to $78m in 2020 but, by July 2022, the figure had gone up to between $85m and $100m.

By May 2023, when Retail NZ submitted about its 'serious concern' about the package, it cited a cost of $117m. Information to Wellington City councillors on Friday, seen by The Post, shows they were told it was then just over $134m.

But Wellington City council documents released ahead of Thursday’s meeting show the expected cost now sits at $139.4m.

Let’s Get Wellington Moving images showing the detailed designs for the plan to pedestrianise Wellington’s Golden Mile.

Councillor Diane Calvert is leading the councillors who filed the notice of motion and said the latest blowout showed the entire project was flawed.

“If they can’t effectively manage the costs and benefits of a project like the Golden Mile, at now $139m, how on earth do they think there will be any confidence in them delivering effectively on a $7 billion-plus project suite of [mass rapid transit], tunnels and Basin Reserve improvements,” she said.

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The signatories to the notice of motion had met with Mayor Tory Whanau and offered a compromise: That a decision on the Golden Mile be deferred until August so LGWM could come up with a new plan that focused on Courtenay Pl and Manners St, with a hold on the Golden Mile from Willis St to Lambton Quay.

They also called for a review of data – particularly benefit-cost ratios. This came after councillor Tony Randle last week found a $250m error in the cost-benefit of another council project which proposed 30km speed limits in the central city. They finally called for an overall review of LGWM and a better plan for the rest of the Golden Mile.

Whanau, who campaigned on supporting LGWM, on Sunday confirmed she had talked to the six councillors and, while she probably had the numbers on 16-member council to block the notice of motion, was trying to find a compromise “somewhere in the middle”.

Aimie Hines, Retail New Zealand's public affairs manager.

This included arranging two question and answer sessions with LGWM staff on Monday and sending council staff to investigate options. Whanau had not yet been given an explanation for the cost increase but expected one on Monday.

Retail leaders were supportive of a compromise, including a pause on piecemeal projects like the Golden Mile until the impacts on their businesses was measured – something existing business cases failed to do for any LGWM project, Retail NZ’s public affairs manager Aimie Hines said.

“With over 28% of Wellington retailers telling us they may close as a result of these projects, this data must be measured.”

There were more pigeons than people in Midland Park on Sunday.

At a meeting last week about the project, attended by about 140 businesses, tradespeople and property owners, there were people in tears, Hines said.

“It breaks their hearts the way it’s going and what it’s going to mean.”

Nicola Cranfield, owner of homewares and retail store Cranfields just off Lambton Quay, had serious concerns about what impact pedestrianisation would have on safety, citing Manners Mall.

”There’s already no one around [on a weekend], it’s dead. If you take cars out, people don’t go in, and the retailers are gone… it doesn’t feel great.”

Cranfield would “selfishly” support a compromise to end pedestrianisation at Manners St, but overall wanted to see the project overhauled.

Ernst and Young did a retail impact assessment report in 2020 for the Golden Mile. It showed just 23% of people got to the Golden Mile in a private vehicle.

“A key recommendation from this study was that retailers would benefit from tailoring their offering to customers arriving by these means, through improving bike lane accessibility, adding bike parking outside stores, or offering loyalty discounts to bus commuters,' the report noted.