Council sees efficiencies, positive change in death of Let’s Get Wellington Moving

Tuesday, 20 February 2024

Constrained budgets will mean the Golden Mile upgrade will be constructed in stages, with Courtenay Place first

The Wellington City Council is looking at the disestablishment of Let’s Get Wellington Moving as a “positive change for the city”.

“There are likely to be efficiencies in how we can deliver these projects … Obviously it’s probably easier to make decisions with one party than three,” said chief infrastructure officer Siobhan Procter in a briefing to councillors about the $7.4b Let’s Get Wellington Moving.

The city council was setting up a new team to deliver the Golden Mile, Thorndon Quay and City Streets projects which would be absorbed into the council.

A transition team has been formed to oversee the transfer of projects and contracts from LGWM to the council. This process will start on March 11 and is due to be completed by March 31.

“It’s a positive change for the city, we can ensure better engagement with businesses and can move from listening to delivery. … Resetting of business engagement is going to be absolutely critical to the success of this,” Procter said.

The Golden Mile project, in particular, was intended to deliver a more vibrant inner-city so that businesses could thrive.

The council’s transport and infrastructure manager Brad Singh said that the council was reviewing the leftover infrastructure projects against available budgets to make sure they could still meet public expectations.

“Any significant changes to any of these projects would need to come back here to the council at a later date.”

Plans for the Basin Reserve and a second Mt Victoria Tunnel will be transferred to Waka Kotahi

Let’s Get Wellington Moving became one of the National Party’s core campaigning platforms for the capital, with Chris Bishop and Simeon Brown criticising the entity for its lack of delivery.

After the election, LGWM was disbanded.

It appears likely that Courtenay Place will be the only part of the Golden Mile revamp that will see shovels in the ground any time soon.

Other projects such as the Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project would be transferred to NZTA, while light rail won’t go ahead.

The transport planning partnership was created in the wake of the Basin Reserve Flyover controversy, when plans for a large road bridge adjacent to the stadium elicited significant community opposition.

The flyover failed to pass National’s own fast-tracking processes and was later killed off in a high court appeal.

Since it was formed, only one LGWM project has been fully completed - the zebra crossing on Cobham Drive.