MEDIA RELEASE

DARAN PONTER
GREATER WELLINGTON REGIONAL COUNCILLOR

13 October 2011
Shameful: Regional Council Supports Basin Reserve Fly-Over

The Greater Wellington Regional Council’s Economic Wellbeing Committee today endorsed the NZTA proposal for a Flyover around the Basin Reserve.

Councillor Daran Ponter was one of several councilllors who opposed the Council’s endorsement of the NZTA’s fly over options.

Councillor Ponter said that while he agreed with the need for a solution to congestion at the Basin Reserve he did not support the New Zealand Transport Agency’s fly over proposals.

“This is a shameful decision - Wellington is so much better than this” said Councillor Ponter.

“This is not a Wellington-friendly solution. The fly-over is a solution rooted in 1960s urban planning. It has no place in inner City Wellington. We should be celebrating and enhancing our urban spaces – not bisecting them with elevated motorways.

Councillor Ponter said that he was concerned that in a fiscally constrained environment the NZTA were rushing to solutions which emphasised low cost solutions over options which respected the Inner City.

“We should fight for a better solution rather than rolling over for the NZTA.” Wellington is being short changed. The Auckland Waterview Connection includes a significant tunnel section that was chosen despite costing significantly more than a surface option”.

Councillor Ponter argued that rather than endorsing the fly-over the Regional Council should instead be recommending that the NZTA does a detailed investigation, and costs, the alternative Option X proposed by the Architectural Centre, including reporting on how Option X might be improved upon.

ENDS

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