Staff not trying to ‘steer’ council on City to Sea bridge demolition

Tuesday, 29 April 2025

A plea from campaigners wanting to keep the City to Sea Bridge for walking above ground across Jervois Quay between Civic Square and the Wellington waterfront. (File photo)

The trust wanting to overturn the decision to demolish the City to Sea foot bridge in the central city had “dressed up” its case as a challenge to the process followed, Wellington City Council’s lawyer says.

At the High Court in Wellington on Tuesday the council responded to the Wellington Civic Trust case against the demolition decision made in December.

The bridge crosses Jervois Quay from Civic Square to the waterfront.

Wellington City Council’s lawyer Bridie McKinnon said the trust’s challenge was really to the merits of the decisions, but “dressed up” as a challenge to the process.

The man who oversaw the building of the Wellington bridge is skeptical Wellington City Council's the projected costings.

The trust’s case was flawed and could not succeed, she said.

The type of case the trust brought was judicial review, which challenged the process such as whether councillors considered relevant matters and whether public consultation on the options was adequate.

The trust said the council had failed to meet the decision making process standards set out in the Local Government Act.

But McKinnon said the council concluded demolition was the only reasonably practicable option to achieve seismic resilience.

Councillors also saw improved safety risks, lower costs, urban design benefits, improved views from Civic Square through to the waterfront, improved accessibility and revitalisation of the area.

The bridge has wooden artwork attached. (File photo)

The trust characterised the council as a demolisher of things, but not everything was able to be saved and have large amounts of money spent on it, McKinnon said.

One of the trust’s complaints was that the range of reasonably practicable options were not considered but McKinnon said the legal obligation was to seek to identify reasonably practicable obligations, and it was not an open-ended process.

Council officers put forward six options, including a variety of strengthening levels, she said. The two demolition options were the two most reasonably practicable ones to achieve the council’s objectives.

The evidence showed council officers were not trying to “steer” the available options, McKinnon said.

Wellington City Council says a pedestrian crossing at street level, pictured in an artist's impression, would replace the bridge. (File image)

Costs varied from making it structurally sound for between $90 million to $120m, and just before the demolition vote in December a change took that down to $85m. Partial strengthening could cost $53m.

Councillors voted against delaying the decision to gather more information or give themselves more time, McKinnon said.

Any decision on the footbridge was complicated because the roof of the former Capital E building, which had been closed for being earthquake prone, was part of the bridge structure.

Councillors’ demolition decision included the former Capital E building. Without the building the bridge would be a viewing platform or a bridge to nowhere, McKinnon said. Councillors were told demolishing the building and replacing it with a large abutment under the bridge, would cost $60m.

In the regional earthquake plan Jervois Quay was a priority emergency route so the future of the bridge needed to be considered in that context also.

In his reply to the council, the trust’s lawyer Tim Smith, said the views of engineers were evolving but council officers were not passing it on to councillors as quickly as possible and in some cases not at all.

The public also needed to know that options were changing, he said.

Justice Christine Grice reserved her decision.