Major Wellington infrastructure project survives no confidence vote

Wellington's transformational infrastructure project Let's Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) has survived a crucial vote in the council chambers, which threatened to derail the $7.4b programme.

It means we could now see shovels in the ground for preparatory works as early as September 2023 along Wellington's Golden Mile.

Six councillors had brought a notice of motion for Wellington City Council (WCC) to withdraw from the partnership with Wellington's regional council and Waka Kotahi, but the notice failed to get over the line, with nine councillors voting it down. Seven were in favour.

Councillor Diane Calvert, who brought forward the motion, said it brought her no pleasure to do so, but that the current governance of LGWM was cumbersome, lacked transparency and had weak accountability.

"We've got a failed experiment," councillor Tim Brown said. He said LGWM has shown a track record of failure to date, and there are examples of better models to follow, like the transport models undertaken in Auckland.

"It's time to move on from what we have at the moment."

Councillor Tamatha Paul, who has consistently supported the LGWM programme, said by presenting no suitable alternatives her fellow councillors who brought forward the notice were "wasting everybody's time".

Councillor Sarah Free disagreed, saying she "stood by the fact it was worth bringing" even if it serves as a "wake up call" for the council. "Things need to change."

Today's council meeting was described as a "D-Day moment" for LGWM, with council officers warning of a variety of financial and legal risks WCC could face were it to withdraw.

Councillors were advised that WCC could be liable for costs of at least $40m, although the real figure could be higher.

The meeting was also seen as one of Mayor Tory Whanau's most significant hurdles in the role, and she opened the meeting by acknowledging there would be challenging, robust discussions.

Whanau acknowledged her council colleagues for presenting the motion, which highlighted a number of issues worth discussing.

Opposition to the programme, in particular the programme encompassing the Golden Mile revitalisation, came predominantly from Wellington's business community — covering retail, hospitality, property owners and others.

A recent Retail NZ study showed more than half of businesses in the CBD would either move out of town, or close their doors indefinitely if the current plans were to go ahead.

Councillor Nicola Young said "Let's Get Wellington Moving will kill our inner city."

LGWM officials maintain the project will result in benefits for Wellington businesses, while recognising short-term disruption during the construction phase.

Regional councillor Thomas Nash, who sits on the LGWM governance reference group, previously told 1News "the evidence from every other city where this has been done is this is good for retail as well as being good for people, so we're very confident that will be the case in Wellington."

He also pointed to a strong public mandate in support of the programme, both through direct consultation and through local body elections.

There was general consensus around the council table that public transport in the city isn't up to scratch, but disagreement on how that would best be tackled.

Opponents to the current projects also highlighted accessibility, cost overruns and inner city safety as other risks. There were also complaints about a lack of transparency around the evidence underpinning LGWM's decisions.

Councillors also heard a range of views from members of the public at the start of today's meeting.

Barry Wilson, who represents a group of 80 businesses along Wellington's Courtenay Place, called the LGWM programme a "hoax on the city" and urged councillors to withdraw completely.

Luke Somervell, representing youth-led climate organisation Generation Zero, said "successive councils have kicked the can down the road for decades... passing the buck to the next generation. This is a failure of leadership".

Former councillor Chris Calvi-Freeman, a retired transport planner who was involved with the early design stages of LGWM, questions why so little has been progressed.

Due to budget blowouts and delays he said he had "sympathy for those who want to shut it down", but urged councillors to get on with the job. "We've elected you to govern."

Council is now turning its attention to a series of further votes on LGWM, including approving additional funding for the two first major projects to get underway, the Golden Mile revitalisation and upgrades to Thorndon Quay & Hutt Rd.

The Golden Mile project has blown out from $78m in 2020, to $139.4m as of today.

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Let's Get Wellington Moving is a transformational infrastructure and transport overhaul of the capital, a collaboration between Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council and Waka Kotahi, with significant funding from central government.

The project includes building a mass rapid transport system, in the form of light rail, from the CBD to the South Coast.