Even Green voters say Wellington’s spending too much on cycleways
Friday, 25 October 2024
Across political parties, ages and genders, Wellingtonians agree the city is spending too much on cycleways, new polling shows.
Nearly 1100 residents were asked, over a week in late September, if the city was spending too much on cycleways over the next three years.
Across all categories, 76% of respondents in the Wellington Chamber of Commerce-Curia poll – supplied exclusively to The Post – said the city was spending too much, with females slightly outweighing males. More older people tended to to think spending was too high but, still, 72% of under-40s thought it was too much.
Every ward thought spending was too high and, based on how people voted in the 2023 general election, every political affiliation said it was too high. For Green voters, 51% said it was too high. ACT was 94%.
The Wellington City Council recently shaved $66 million of its planned cycleway spend over the coming decade, leaving $111m still to be spent on top of the $42m already spent in the past two years ‒ or $52m in the past three years. But cycleways are proving deeply divisive as car parks are removed and car lanes lost, leaving businesses crying foul as shopper numbers allegedly plummet.
One of the latest iterations of the network was a recent addition of a new cycleway through the Island Bay shops. Within months of being opened a 39-year-old pipe connection burst beneath it this week, meaning the lane had to be dug up.
The poll told people the council spent $52m on cycleways in the past three years, averaging of $642 per household and planned to spend another $56m over the next three years. “Do you believe this level of spending is – too much, too little or about right?,” it asked.
With the council voting down selling its 34% stake in Wellington Airport and having to adjust its long-term plan of spending and rating for the coming decade, chamber chief executive Simon Arcus said it was a time to review all spending, including cycleways.
The survey was “fairer and more compelling” than the council’s original long-term plan, which did not consult on cost, he alleged.
“Put simply, the council needs to stop talking how much it will be spending and start thinking about how much it has to spend, with revenue as the starting point,” he said.
“Council must be working on a plan to reduce rates for Wellington resident and businesses.”
There could be no “non-negotiables” as the city redid its long-term plan and that need to include cycleways, said Arcus, who supported cycleways as part of an integrated network “where investment is equitable and based on the needs of every resident”.
Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said the city only planned to spend 2% of all spending – capital and operational – in the next decade on bike lanes.
“I’m not sure if people realise the share of rates being spent on car infrastructure and public transport is much higher,” she said.
Cycle lanes gave affordable access to more people, cleaner air and less competition for car parks. Cycle data showed a large increases in cycle numbers when they were introduced, she said.
“Bike paths benefit everyone – drivers, who don’t need to get held up by cyclists on the road or worry about hitting them, and people who want to save on their transport costs but don’t feel safe to cycle without a separated lane.”
A council spokesperson said the $52m investment, which included bus and pedestrian improvements, had allowed the council to take advantage of government subsidies (up to 90% for some projects) and provide greater transport choices.
“Furthermore, because the costs to the council are borrowed, they are paid off over time not just by current ratepayers.
“Despite this record investment in Wellington City, 90% of our transport funding over the same period went on roads, bridges and tunnels, footpaths and crossings.”