Second meeting on Karori Connections plan

By Frank Neill

A second public meeting will be held in Karori on Wellington City Council’s Karori Connections plan – a meeting where people will have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the plan.

The meeting has been organised by a Karori group called Shared Spaces Karori and will be held at 7pm on 17 August at St Ninian’s Church hall.

Shared Spaces Karori is encouraging the local community to attend “as we feel there has not been suitable consultation around proposed cycle lanes up to and through the heart of Karori”.

The upcoming meeting follows the public meeting at Karori RSA on 18 July. Attended by around 200 people, that meeting was organised by Wellington CityCouncil.

However there was no opportunity for people to ask questions or discuss the Karori Connections plan.

In fact when people tried to ask council officers questions “they were told to put their feedback on the table,” says Anne Evans of Shared Spaces Karori.

At the 18 July meeting people heard presentations on the plan, which happened in a series of “shifts”, where people took turns to sit around four tables where the presentations were given.

Following that, people had the opportunity to write their comments and feedback on the proposals and place them on a table.

“The point of the [17 August] meeting is for people to listen to what they [the council] have got to say and then to be able to ask questions,” Anne says.

Shared Spaces Karori has invited councillors and officers from Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council to attend, along with local candidates in the General Election, the Mayor and representatives of Metlink.

“Residents have concerns about the proposed removal of a large number of car parks particularly for those on Karori Road with no off-street parking), no alternate parking plans, no revised bus priority plans, apparent lack of consideration around alternate routes, the implications associated with addition pressure on side streets and the potential for more congestion due to the location of revised bus stops,” Shared Spaces Karori says.

“There is also a general concern that the proposed cycle lane solution is a permanent 24x7 build that is attempting to manage what is essentially a peak hour transport option meaning the community, businesses and sporting organisations in Karori will be impacted especially as many others travel into Karori in the weekends.

“Shared Spaces Karori supports the sensible development of a cycle network in conjunction with associated parking and bus priority plans on the same timeline.

Shared Spaces Karori would like to see a greener solution for Karori “moving more people with fewer vehicles”.

Wellington City Councillor Diane Calvert will chair the meeting.

At the meeting “we will look to have as much up-to-date information as possible from Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington,” Cr Calvert says.

“Shared Spaces Karori will also be sharing what they have been able to discover.

“There will be an opportunity for people to feed back comments and there will be a question and answer.”

If the council cannot provide answers to questions, they will

Khandallah hill tracks upgraded

Wellington City Council has carried out maintenance work on the tracks above Khandallah Park.

“These tracks are 4WD service roads as well as walking tracks that need to be accessible for WCC operations vehicles,” the council says.

“WCC contractors and other service providers like Wellington Electricity, Chorus and Kordia who have services and equipment in the area. take the question away so that an answer can be provided.

“There had not been any significant maintenance on these tracks for at least 10 years and they were getting to the point where they were overgrown and a challenge to drive safely.

“We have had contractors up there last week scraping and upgrading the tracks and flail-mowing the track edges.

“It’s a little soft due to rain now but given a few weeks to set/harden off and some spring growth of grass along the track edges and it will be look better,” the council says.

“Part of the reason for having the meeting next week is for the community to have chance to provide input before the council prepares its final plan in August to go out for a final consultation in September.

“My personal view is that the council should allow more time to engage with the community about routes and other potential improvements before they go out to final consultation in September.”

For example, Cr Calvert says “some members of the Karori community would like to see investigation of alternative routes for the bikes.”

The current Karori Connections plan provides for cycle lanes along Karori Road.

“It is important that people attend the meeting. Where they will have the opportunity to ask questions and see the detailed plans that have been made to date,” Cr Calvert says.

Council officers had told her that they had introduced a number of changes, including 10 to 12 significant changes since the 18 July meeting.

These changes will be outlined at the upcoming meeting.

Johnsonville Library is hosting the Tūmanako, a community event encouraging young people (under 18) to express their creativity and share their aspirations for a peaceful, inclusive, and nuclear-free world.

Tūmanako 2023 will be on display at the Waitohi Hub, Johnsonville Library from 11 to 31 August.

Ōtari Open Day

The Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush open day will be held from 10am to 2pm on Saturday 16 September.

This free event provides people a chance to discover and celebrate New Zealand’s only native botanic garden. People will be able to get to know Ōtari’s unique collections of native plants, learn more about what goes on behind the scenes at the nursery and get a peek into the Lions Ōtari Conservation Laboratory. There will be guided tours and informational talks in addition to hands-on activities.