LETTERS & EMAILS

LETTERS & EMAILS EVENING PARKING SUGGESTION Having heard how concerned Ponsonby businesses are about the potential loss of parking spaces, I wonder if I can encourage you to take an idea to the Ponsonby Business Association? It won’t solve the daytime issue, but it would certainly help in the evening.

Why don’t the businesses who aren’t open at night allow people to park in their parking lots after they close? It’s crazy to circle the streets looking for a spot when the BNZ lot is empty! This goes for many of the parking spots dotted around Ponsonby side streets - so many empty parking places with “24 hour tow-away” signs...Why? Aside from the tow truck drivers, I don’t see how anyone loses if these parking lots/ spots were made available to the public after 6pm.

Just a thought. I believe we need to work together to make the community thrive. Leanne Pooley, Ponsonby

THE COSTS OF CYCLEWAYS I recently requested detail under the official information act from NZTA regarding the costs of cycleways just in Auckland over the last 10 years.

The result was that $324,756,110 was invested in cycleways in Auckland (assuming the numbers are correct). I then sourced the statistics from the Auckland Council web site as to the actual use of those cycleways.

There are many issues that I could highlight to demonstrate that the investment has been a colossal waste of Ratepayers and Taxpayers money – not to mention the immediate and on ongoing heavy impact on the ability to get around Auckland using the main thoroughfares, by any other means. However, the key learning from the statistics is that the cycling number since December 2015 have been almost static, (at around 300,000 recorded individual trips – so about 150,000 cycle trips per month – or about 5,000 actual cyclists per day) … until April 2019. After April 2019 they have been in steady decline.

An example: December 2019 - 305,000 cycle movements for the month – from 3.77 million year on year (to two decimal places).

December 2020 - 288,466 (a decline of -5.4% on Dec 2019) – with annual stats at 3.77 ALSO to two decimal places - but still much lower.

Since December 2020 – cycle use has fallen off a cliff – and as of June 2021 there were just 245,618 cycle movements a 6.4% decrease on already falling figures from the previous year.

The trend is clearly downward! (Please note these statistics do not include the winter of 2021 but do reflect that Covid during 2020 only exacerbated the already obvious negative trend – and now that Covid restrictions have lifted, the trend is even more markedly downward).

If each cyclist makes trips in two directions to and from work (or home), then it is easy to deduct that given the population of Auckland is now approx 1,657,000 and 5,000 cyclists have been recorded as using a cycle at least once – then 0.3017 % of our population are dictating to the other 99.6982% how we should best travel in, around, and through Auckland.

I am not at all sure that the current investment of $64,951 per cyclist has been in any way a success. (it would have been cheaper to buy every cyclist a motor scooter, or small EV!). Council now plans on spending ANOTHER $635,000,000 between now and 2028 ($71,000,000 per annum average). Sadly, you cannot even argue that climate change is in the air because of these statistics and the “return on investment” that almost every business case calls for cannot possibly “stack up".

It is time to start removing the cycle ways from Nelson Street, Quay Street, Karangahape Road, and not even build the cycleways proposed by Auckland Transport in Great North Road – with the ensuing disruption to all the local businesses, loss of parking and ease of use for the residents and businesses of Auckland.

Enough! The cycle ways are a failed experiment by zealots who did not factor in the shape of Auckland (isthmus), the geography (hilly), the weather (changeable on an hourly basis) and the time pressures on those wishing to get to and from work.

The buses could work – but they are still not performing, and the CRL might help, but cars are without question now and always have been the required method of transport for 90% of us and common sense and political logic would seem to shout aloud, that cycling is NOT the solution - and certainly not at this cost. Roger Hawkins, Herne Bay

CURRAN STREET & SHELLY BEACH ROAD At the risk of suggesting another way for Auckland Transport to spend our money I'm curious as to whether there are many people who could see merit in making Curran Street one way down (with a 30kph speed limit) and Shelly Beach Road one way up. Bill Allen, St. Mary's Bay

GROWING FRUSTRATION AND ANGER IN THE COMMUNITY... There is a growing frustration and anger in the community about the six members of City Vision repeatedly voting as a block to drive through any initiative they want or suppressing any contrary initiatives. The example of the former is the Motion moved by Member Graeme Gunthorpe on having a periodic cycle lane over the harbour Bridge and the later of Member Sarah Trotman seeking an independent investigation into the felling of the Western Springs Forest - this initiative failed after no other member was prepared to second it, meaning that there was not even a debate on the initiative.

On every issue of substance, City Vision caucus their position so that any debate is held behind closed doors and then they vote accordingly. Furthermore, we do not know who else attends the caucus and has influence over the decision on how to vote. This situation is even worse than Workshops not being open to the public - at least material presented at the Workshops can be obtained under the Official Information Act.

The fact is that the 40% of constituents (who did vote), elected six City Vision members to represent them. However, it is also a fact that if a proportional representation system applied, City Vision would have three members, C&R three members and depending how the independents organised themselves, one member. Thus, it would be unlikely that any one party could dominate the Board as is the case at the moment.

While the electoral system remains as it is, if City Vision and C&R had any regard for the principles of democracy, one way to avoid the present situation is for them to agree between themselves that they would only nominate a maximum of four candidates each at the next election. I don’t hold any great hope that this will happen so the community will have to continue its “guerrilla style” approach. Keith McConnell keith@keithforwaitemata.com