Council – Simon Britten

Simon’s May 2023 newsletter: Good news on cycleways, hello LGNZ

CBEC members at our inaugural meeting at LGNZ’s Wellington office in March.

The Wheels to Wings – Papanui ki Waiwhetū major cycle route has featured in a number of my recent newsletters, and it will again today, but first let’s start with some good news on the Northern Line MCR.

Green light for Northern Line cycleway crossings and missing sections

This week the Council approved the detailed design of incomplete sections of the Northern Line major cycleway route. Staff emphasised that Council were being asked to approve the ‘lines and signs’ associated with an already-approved scheme design, and advised that construction of missing sections north of Northcote Road can start next month. Crossing upgrades at Harewood, Langdons, and Sawyers Arms Roads are due to commence in late 2023. For details, see page 5 onwards in the meeting agenda.

Read the full newsletter on Substack: simonbritten.substack.com/p/good-news-on-cycleways-hello-lgnz

Strong cycleway support in Annual Plan submissions

Over the past week the Christchurch City Council has been hearing submissions on the city’s draft Annual Plan, and feedback on cycleways, including the Wheels to Wings – Papanui ki Waiwhetū major cycle route, is overwhelmingly positive.

A photo taken on Harewood Rd from a bike mounted camera showing a close pass from a driver towing a trailer. This image accompanied my Facebook post encouraging people to submit on the Annual Plan in general and on the Wheels to Wings in particular.

Last year I wrote to clarify that during the two rounds of public consultation on the Wheels to Wings, only a minority of submissions opposed the project. “How terrible it would be for the community to be denied the cycleway on the basis of this minority opposition?” I said at the time.

Keep Calm and Cycle On: only a minority opposed the Wheels to Wings cycleway

Is the Wheels to Wings – Papanui ki Waiwhetū major cycle route really ‘controversial’, or even ‘very controversial’, as some recent headlines* claimed, following the July decision of the council to approve the cycleway’s scheme design? The evidence suggests otherwise.

Explanation: changes to Papanui Ward boundaries in 2022

The Christchurch City Council’s 2021 representation review resulted in two significant changes to Papanui Ward from the 2022 election onwards: adjustments to the Ward’s boundaries; and also a change to the overall Community Board area.

Papanui Ward boundaries for the 2022 election. Image source: Christchurch City Council.

I have previously written about the Papanui Ward – see my 2019 article for an exploration of the area that it covers, (noting that the boundaries are changing as described below). This current article focuses on what’s changing. From the 2022 election onwards the composition of the Community Board also changes – Papanui and Innes Wards are joined by Central Ward to form the Waipapa/Papanui-Innes-Central Community Board.

Submission on Te Kaha multi-use arena budget consultation

I recently submitted to Council on the multi-use arena budget consultation.

I’m a member of the Waipapa/Papanui-Innes Community Board (and am standing for re-election this year) but made this submission on my own behalf. The Community Board has no role in decision-making on the area.

In the interests of transparency my submission follows:

Q: Should the Council: invest an additional up to $150 million to enable the project to continue as planned; stop the project altogether; or pause and re-evaluate the project?
A: Pause and re-evaluate the project

Q: What would you like to see us re-evaluate?
A: The scope, the funding model, the operating model, the business case, the climate impact.

Q: Do you have any further comments regarding the funding of Te Kaha – Multi-Use Arena?
A: General comment:
I am not against arenas. What I am against is spending more than what is needed on them. Just because the Government has given us money towards the cost of an arena, we shouldn’t waste money on an over-the-top design. After all, we as taxpayers are contributing to the Government’s portion of this project, as well as our ratepayer portion. As inflation bites on these projects, we have to be more frugal to make our hard-earned money go further. $500,000 a week for the next thirty years to finance the build? And then it’ll run at a loss of millions of dollars a year? And despite our climate & ecological emergency there’s been no consideration in the budget or business case of the climate impact of building and operating the venue?

Green light for Northern Line cycleway crossings and missing sections

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