‘Zombie bureaucracy’: Two months from demise, Let’s Get Wellington Moving trucks on

Thursday, 29 February 2024

‘Let’s Get Wellington Moving lumbers along as a zombie bureaucracy, sucking up public money as it ineptly navigates its own disestablishment’: ACT infrastructure spokesperson Cameron Luxton.

The “zombie” organisation behind Wellington’s $7.4 billion transport overhaul remains at near-full staff with a consultant still on the payroll two months after the programme was ditched.

Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) was to be a complete rethink of how Wellingtonians got from A to B featuring light rail, a second Mount Victoria tunnel, cycle lanes and pedestrianisation of much of the central city. But the new National-led government ditched the programme, as it signalled it would, not long after taking office.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, which was one of the three partners in the programme alongside Wellington’s city and regional councils, has now released figures for staffing levels from December, before the programme was cut, and its most-recent figures, from February 12.

An artist’s impression of the Let’s Get Wellington Moving dream that failed.

They show it still has five permanent staff and six staff seconded from other organisations, while fixed-term staff have dropped from 29 to 25, consultants have dropped from five to one, and contractors have reduced from a dozen to two.

“Even in death, LGWM lumbers along as a zombie bureaucracy, sucking up public money as it ineptly navigates its own disestablishment,” ACT infrastructure spokesperson Cameron Luxton said.

“With the costs split between local and central government, Wellington ratepayers and taxpayers from Kaitāia to the Bluff have been taken for a ride.”

Shutting down a bureaucracy should not be difficult, he said.

NZTA has separately, under the Official Information Act, released figures showing that, by January 31 LGWM had spent $109.2 million on consultants. It was previously reported that LGWM had spent $59.4m on consultants since starting, up until the end of the last financial year with plans to spend a further $60m this year.

Despite being canned with three months of the financial year to go, LGWM had spent $49.8m of that $60m on consultants by the end of January.

NZTA system design national manager Robyn Elston said the LGWM organisation would close at the end of March, with those still there working on moving some projects to other organisations and winding LGWM down.

The central government has pledged to build the second Mount Victoria tunnel while the Wellington City Council intends to go it alone on Thorndon Quay and Golden Mile revamps.

Simeon Brown was the opposition transport spokesperson in August when he said LGWM “should absolutely put a stop of continual spending of taxpayer money without any plan to deliver”.

He is now the transport minister and moved to cut LGWM soon after getting into office.

Remaining staff and contractors were focused on closing down what remains of the project and handing surviving aspects to other organisations.

“It is my expectation that the wind up of the LGWM project is undertaken as soon as possible and at the least possible cost to taxpayers,” he said.

It was in August, when National had already vowed to ditch the scheme if it got elected, revealed that LGWM had already cost $120m. This included $113,524 on moving offices including $73,752 on new office furniture

NZTA was asked what would become of the office furniture, and what work the remaining consultant and contractors were working on. It did not respond by deadline.