Board of Inquiry to consider Basin Bridge proposal
Hon Amy Adams
Minister for the Environment
2 August 2013
Board of Inquiry to consider Basin Bridge proposal
Environment Minister Amy Adams has today announced that an application for the Basin Bridge proposal will be decided by an independent Board of Inquiry.
The application by the New Zealand Transport Agency relates to a two-lane, one-way bridge on the northern side of the Basin Reserve that includes a segregated walking and cycling pathway. The proposal is part of the Wellington Northern Corridor Road of National Significance.
Ms Adams accepted the Environmental Protection Authority’s recommendation that the proposal was of national significance and should be decided by a Board of Inquiry.
“This process means that people directly affected by the proposal can have their say and the independent Board of Inquiry will deliver its decision within nine months,” Ms Adams says.
“This nine month streamlined process provides certainty for all parties. The Environment Court or relevant local authorities are not subject to this same timeframe.”
The application was nationally significant because of the wide public interest in the project, the significant changes to the local environment that will occur and because of its effect on an area of national significance, primarily the Basin Reserve Historic Area.
The Board of Inquiry will be chaired by retired Environment and District Court Judge Gordon Whiting. The other Board members are resource management consultant Christine Foster, social impact consultant James Baines and planning consultant David Collins.
The Board runs its own process and makes its decision independently of the Environmental Protection Authority and the Minister.
About the Board
Retired Environment and District Court
Judge Gordon Whiting
Judge Whiting brings extensive
judicial expertise and a wide range of experience in
resource management law. He has presided over a number of
significant and varied resource management cases, with many
not only having economic impacts but also involving
conflicting uses of public and private interests. He
chaired the Boards of Inquiry for the New Zealand King
Salmon, the Te Mihi Geothermal Power Station and the Tauhara
II Geothermal Power Station applications.
Christine
Foster
Christine Foster has been a Senior Resource
Management Consultant with Environmental Management Services
since 1996. She has more than 25 years’ experience as a
practising resource management planner, working in local and
central government and as a consultant to a range of private
sector clients. She has expertise in environmental impact
assessment including social effects, community consultation,
RMA processes, providing expert evidence and project
management. She has significant hearing and independent
commissioner experience and has the Making Good Decisions
accreditation.
James Baines
James Baines has 31
years’ experience as a practicing consultant and
researcher in the social policy field and is currently the
Director of Taylor Baines and Associates. His speciality
area is social impact assessment (SIA) on major projects
including utility, urban development and planning, rural
development, environmental policy and social change
projects. Mr Baines was involved in a number of SIA peer
reviews relating to previous EPA proposals. He has
experience with environmental noise effects, social
assessment of central business district development and
structure planning. He is a member and previous chair of the
International Association for Impact Assessment.
David
Collins
David Collins has been Principal of Collins
Consulting since 2000 and acted as hearing commissioner for
more than 20 years, providing significant experience in
making decisions within a RMA framework. He has particular
expertise in roading designations and in developing
transportation models which have subsequently been used
throughout New Zealand and Australia and has been involved
in various transportation studies. Mr Collins has
undertaken planning analysis work for councils and holds the
Making Good Decisions
accreditation.
ENDS