I’ll have to be honest and state that after the reading about the urban corridor I’ve done I’ve decided not to make a submission to the Council. Primarily this is because I’ve been becoming increasingly convinced that it’s entirely a waste of time and effort.
The Corridor plan centres on the idea of turning a swathe of city stretching from Johnsonville to Kilbirnie into high-density urban corridor (hence the name). But the plan itself doesn’t seem to want to allow this to occur. I say this because the emphasis is on effective transport along the corridor. And ‘effective transport’ is, by all direct indications, personal transport.
The main example is the councils willingness to entirely ignore the improvement of public transport in favour of roading that will encourage the use of personal transport. There is some intention to provide dedicated bus lanes, but these are for diesel buses.
Why this makes me think that the urban corridor idea is precluded by the the types of transport the plans lean towards. Personal transport tends to push people out towards the further suburbs. And the type of public transport they’re favouring is extremely noisy and polluting. Why would anyone like in a high-density urban area that is noisy and polluted when they can easily drive in from the burbs?
I could go on. As I say, the plan is a dog’s breakfast, and the Council was entirely willing to entirely ignore the push for public transport in the form of clean, (relatively) quiet light-rail despite it being the overwhelming preference in the last round of consultation.
So, bugger it. The Council can get the city it deserves.
29 June, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Eh. Unfortunately, we’ll get the city the council deserves too.
I prefer the small chance of making an impact to the certainty of making none at all.
29 June, 2008 at 10:06 pm
And re the previous post … I can vouch for the *excellent* public transport out here in the ‘burbs. We have real trains, no faffing about with this ‘light rail’ business!
29 June, 2008 at 11:48 pm
What you need to do is take that pissed-off-ness and direct it toward the council in the form of a submission.
Let them know you’ve seen through their bullshit. Let them know what your demands are.
Because, like Stephen said, we’ll all get that city too.
Think of the next generation! (*Ahem*)
30 June, 2008 at 9:43 am
“We have real trains, no faffing about with this ‘light rail’ business!”
Though actually, the ‘light’ in light rail doesn’t refer to any reduction in capacity or quality for passengers, and in fact the EMUs we have on most lines in greater Wellington are closer to light rail than to what’s referred to as “eavy” commuter rail overseas.
The big advantage of light rail over the existing rail units is that they can switch seamlessly from existing dedicated rail lines to on-street running like a tram. A light rail line running seamless along the J’ville line, through the CBD and out to Newtown and the airport would be exactly what I would consider a “high quality public transport corridor”, but apparently that’s not a view shared by all.