Sixed by a bus, not an elbow of flyover

Although I no longer live in Wellington, I keep a keen interest in the evolution of its character. Urban design is one of these aspects. Having walked the streets of Wellington for decades, I have studied its contours, flavours and wind funnels with care.

The recent spate of pedestrian maimings and deaths in the Wellington CBD has been a tragedy. I supported the council's decision to rearrange the bus routes, as long as lower Cuba Street was completely pedestrianised, and most of Mercer St was too. Doing so would help move the foot traffic safely into another stream, away from the old Manners Mall, now Manners Street.

At my verbal submission, this idea was bumped back by Councillors, smirking it off as a bad idea. Lower Cuba Street was a wind-swept area unfit for boulevards or outdoor dining, I was informed. The precinct was best served by a shared space. i.e. road. My written submission also favoured general traffic through Manners Street, not just buses. This point came up in the discussion on the matter on Nine to Noon last Friday.

It's a lot more complex than that, of course. Wellington is full of absent-minded professors, students, joggers, cyclists, rugbyheads and artists in varying states of reverie and/or revelry. They are all creatures of rhythm and habit. It takes years to change that conditioning, their innate trust in the footpath.

It was bad enough that the bypass has turned Upper Cuba and Upper Willis Streets into a game of Frogger for impatient pedestrians. I've lost count of the times I've almost been street-pizzaed when they re-arranged the Ghuznee Street flow. Now the Manners Street/Willis Street nexus has become a new kill zone.

Sean Plunket spoke truth to power on the matter last weekend, pointing out that most of the Council's alleged solutions to the black spot are stupid. I gather temporary fences are currently in vogue, which might stop soccer Mums with prams or mobility scooters, but it's just a small leap for this freedom walker.

The only advice I can offer is what it has always been; keep the traffic types separate as much as possible. When the fleshy bodies have to intersect with the screaming metal boxes, ensure they have weight of numbers and regular crossing times on the fleshy ones' side.

That principle was behind my entry for the aBc urban design competition back in 2007. I'm glad to see that the Basin flyover is going ahead, as well as the cut and cover tunnel under the War Memorial Park. Get that traffic away from cyclists and pedestrians. The only thing they aren't doing which was in my entry was to put the airport bypass through Government House.

Tommy Honey did have a point about the new park on NatRad earlier this week, in that it will be a disjointed open space with no links to the waterfront. Car yards litter the main lateral thoroughfares on either side, in Taranaki St and Cambridge Terrace.  Hopefully, once the tunnel and park are finished and the traffic flows settle down again, Tory Street might become viable as a more pedestrianised link to Courtenay Place and the waterfront.

Wade-Brown Town

Congratulations to Celia Wade-Brown, the new mayor of Wellington. David Farrar sez that Celia is nominating Westie Councillor Andy Foster for Deputy. I'd second that. The Lambton clique have been ruling the city for long enough.

And I presume that's the last we've heard of a Wellywood sign too.

3 STV's and an FPP - 2010 edition

It's that time of the trimester for local body elections and the ballot papers have arrived. Let's get this over and done with. Fortunately, there's less dart-throwing required than last time, largely thanks to this handy little website.

Working from the back of the ballot to the front, first up is Wellington Regional Council. FPP, tick five choices from a field of 12. After a quick look through the Turf Digest, I reckon I'll take a process of elimination on this vote, combined with the form of the existing council. My experiences with the WRC over the last three years have not been positive. The weed control officer was polite but not entirely helpful, whilst bus fares have doubled in three years.

Clearly, the Council must be sent a message. Someone's for the chop. Sally Baber can go, for talking of expanding water supplies without mentioning the leaky public pipes right now, where up to fifty percent of water loss occurs on the way to the ratepayers. Judith Aitken can also go. Cruising on a reputation. Paul Bruce avoids the axe by a whisker, leaving Chris Laidlaw out in the cold.

Fran Wilde and Paul Bruce now need three new faces in there. Two chicks got knocked out of incumbency, and the only other choice a Dianne Buchan, a consultant. That nearly got her kicked off the island. Saved by helping start the Newtown Festival. She's in.

Another consultant, Labour's Daran Pointer, is not so lucky. The B Ark Golgafrinchan quota is now full. He's out. I'm also very wary of local candidates running on large party tickets, especially the way Labour is barricaded right now. However, if I'm going to give Charles Finny a crack, some yin is required. Congratulations to Chris Lipscombe for providing enough information to make an informed guess.

My WRC vote: Paul Bruce, Dianne Buchan, Charles Finny, Chris Lipscombe and Fran Wilde.

Next up, the CCDHB race. Rank seven in order, like a favoured septella (Think of it as the offspring of a trifecta and a quinella). My experiences of the health services and those of my circle over the last three years has been uniformly positive. Therefore, I really don't care enough look for alternative candidates and I'm going to just rank the incumbents in the order presented on the ballot. The Electoral Office saw me coming, and the candidates are helpfully listed in random order. So:

1. Donald Urquhart-Hay, 2. Virginia Hope, 3. Margaret Faulkner, 4. Judith Aitken, 5. Helene Ritchie, 6. Peter Roberts, 7. 7.... Where's Ruth Gotlieb? OK, I'm going to have to pick one. Where did I put my darts... 7. is... Russell Franklin.

OK, only two votes to go, Wellington's Westie Ward and mayor. Both are STV ballots. Now there's a funny lesson I learned from Scoop earlier this year about STV votes. Rank your choices, yeah. But if you DON'T want a candidate to be elected, don't rank them. AT ALL:

DO’S AND DONT’S FOR VOTING

Obviously, it is important to make sure the candidates you choose are the ones you prefer – in the order that you prefer them.

Do not put a number next to a candidate who you do not want to vote for, even if it is the lowest vote, it is still a vote, and could be counted as such if all your other candidates reach their quota of votes.

You may think there is not a huge difference between ranking a candidate as your sixth preference or ranking them as your seventh preference, but in a system such as STV, and in an election with such a large amount of candidates, such differences can be hugely significant in terms of results.

Time to pull out my shit list from earlier in the year. No votes for Kerry Prendergast, John Morrison or Jo Coughlin. In Onslow Western, that makes Andy Foster an easy Number 1. Oh dear, with one down and two scratchings, that leaves a field of only four and two spaces to fill. Not picking any more risks Jack Ruben getting back in, so I'm holding my nose and:

Onslow Western Vote - 1. Andy Foster, 2. Ingrid Sage, 3. Sharon Blaikie.

Finally, the mayor. As mentioned earlier, Kerry is on the shit list. Apart from that, I'm tired of her face. I'm tired of every public space within a one block radius of a Rex Nicholls property being ripped up and made over at public expense. It may be an STV vote, but I'm only ranking one candidate. Celia Wade-Brown for mayor.

Thanks for the warning

A press release from the Wellington City Council today explains some of last night's rattle & hum:

The public of the greater Wellington area are advised that the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) will be conducting a military exercise based in the Wellington region on the evenings of the 23, 24 and 27 June 2010. 

Iroquois helicopters from No. 3 Squadron RNZAF will be practising tactical low flying operations at night, utilising night vision equipment, between sunset and midnight.

On 27 June there will be extensive operations in the Central Business District during these hours.

No. 3 Squadron is required to conduct exercises in order to provide capable and timely response options in support of the New Zealand Government's needs.

Cops and Nannies

Paul Easton at the DomPost has a closer look at last night's WCC vote on extending the liquor ban. Mayor Kerry Prendergast and the police ended up losing the argument.

Wellington police had backed [the ban] as being easier for the public to grasp. 

It nicely sums up the police's contempt of the citizens. Good on Ian McKinnon pointing out the draconian breath testing of rugby match observers in Christchurch as a new low point in civic trust. It is a great example demonstrating how keen the police are to intervene in the most mundane of community interests given half an opportunity.

HOW THEY VOTED
For: Stephanie Cook, Jo Coughlan, Rob Goulden, John Morrison, Mayor Kerry Prendergast, Helene Ritchie.
Against: Ray Ahipene-Mercer, Ngaire Best, Andy Foster, Leonie Gill, Ian McKinnon, Iona Pannett, Bryan Pepperell, Celia Wade- Brown, Hayley Wain.

It's a very telling vote split, which will strongly influence my local body vote later in the year. It will also be interesting to see how many cops line up for the local councils as well, seeing how National has rammed through under urgency a new law permitting serving police officers to stand for election.

WCC sobers up

Champagne breakfasts in the Otari Wilton bush reserve and other bouts of romantic alcoholism are no longer under threat after the Wellington City Council voted against a city-wide alcohol ban. Prior to the meeting, the Council was divided 14 - 1 in favour of the prohibition, with only Green Councillor Iona Pannett against the motion. After a public backlash in an election year, the Council changed its mind and voted 11 - 4 against the motion.

I'd love to know who changed their minds. Big kudos go to Iona Pannett for providing the fulcrum to leverage the Council. I-O-NA! I-O-NA!

Of course, boozy reveries outside the confines of licensed premises in the CBD is still verboten. You still must be of a certain wealth to get pissed in the city.

UPDATE: NatRad reports that the vote included an extension to the CBD prohibition. It seems Newtown and Mount Cook has been included in the ban, just not a citywide thing. Khandallah, Kelburn and Karori can rest easy. It's just the South Wellington plebs who get the cosh.

Rugby kills carnival

The Cuba St Carnival will not be happening next year. Wellington City Council cites there is no money in the kitty:

Spending on the Rugby World Cup was not affecting the council's decision, she said. The council has so far put aside $350,000 for a sculpture for the tournament, as well as $100,000 for a cup village.

Petitioning the wowzers

There are many things worse than sitting in a Wellington park on a warm summer evening with a bottle of wine and a pretty girl, watching the world go by. Unfortunately, this pastime is now illegal in Wellington, at least in the CBD and around the waterfront. Very soon the Wellington City Council will extend this alcohol free fatwa to the entire city.

Every single councillor, with the exception of Iona Pannett, supports a complete ban on drinking in the greater city region. This has been justified on the grounds that homeless drunks have made life unpleasant for pedestrians and Soccer Mums. In reality, I suspect it is a commercial rort to favour bars and other licensed premises from wholesale competition from the off-licences.

Submissions are open until May 5th. You can also register your displeasure at this killjoy bylaw by signing the e-petition here. The Local Government Act 2002 has been the worst thing for public freedom. All those little Napoleons shitting on the freedoms of expression and association. If it's not the damn jam it's the thrill of mildly intoxicating moments.

The insidious Kerry Prendergast

Wellington City Council are pondering an extension of the CBD liquor ban to encompass the entire city. The Council is looking at throwing the matter open to public submissions later in the year, but if they go ahead with the ban plan they'll have a fight on their hands. It is one thing to clamp down in the CBD, but the Bill of Rights and enforceability issues will cause all sorts of unnecessary problems.

For example:

It is supported by police who say a consistent city-wide policy would aid enforcement. Police also have the power to search any vehicle entering a liquor ban zone.

Are you absolutely positively sure you want the cops to have the right to search without a warrant all vehicles entering or leaving the city? Is a champagne breakfast in the Ohariu Wilton Reserve really that much of a threat to public order? Do you think all those Newtown drunks are just going to stop drinking in public and go to one of Rex Nicholls' swanky bars instead?

There's one thing a few public drinkers and Wellington City Council have in common. Neither group know their limits.

Lord it's hard to be humble...

... when Wellington City Council follows your advice almost to the letter. In my submission on whether to allow buses through Manners Mall, I argued in favour of the plan with a few observations. One was to "encourage" private road traffic onto the Dixon/ Victoria/ Wakefield/ Taranaki loop, leaving Manners St for buses only. As a trade-off to opening up Manners Mall to buses, lower Cuba St should be fully pedestrianised.

Well bugger me with a police baton, that's what's happening. It makes sense if you look at this map, which shows that by extending Cuba Mall down to the Michael Fowler Centre, you can link it up with the Waterfront walkway. This stands in contrast to the status quo, where "Manners Mall links Cuba Mall to ... nowhere for pedestrians." There's even my cunning plan for making Mercer St (between the Civic Square and Willis St) more pedestrian friendly, thereby formalising a link to Lambton Quay that plainly doesn't exist at present.

Here's hoping the expansion of foot traffic down lower Cuba will entice the building owners in that part of town to dolly it up a bit more. It's a bit shit, but nothing a lick o' paint can't fix.

From here to 2019

Wellington City Council has put its draft Long Term Plan 2009 - 2019 out for consultation. Deadline is May 18.

WCCNCEA

Community newspaper The Wellingtonian has a mid-term report of the Wellington City Councillors:

Four stars, eight journeymen and three no-hopers: that's our panel's verdict on Wellington city councillors' performance halfway through their three-year term.

It's a fair report. I've always got replies from Stephanie Cook and Andy Foster. I got to know Iona Pannett from the NZ Flag petition days. While we disagreed on some matters, she's diligent and heart-felt about the people. The same can be said for Kerry Prendergast.

Anyone thinking of running in next year's race should take note that all three "no-hopers" in the report are from the Northern Ward. Hmmm... tempting...

Hunterville Welcomes You

In previous times, NZ towns welcomed travellers with a simple sign paid and maintained by the various badges affixed around the kia ora. Lions, Jaycees, Rotary, etc. These have largely fallen by the wayside now. The more likely welcome most places now will be a Road Transport sign featuring a car accident. Welcome to Taihape! Don't die here! So, I'm trying to keep an open mind on the proposed Hook of Maui idea for the entrance to Wellington.

It's almost good. I dig what it's getting at, but I'm not convinced that it's the right place for it. There's stuff all images to go off, just the two included with the DomPost story. Curiously, I can't find a damned thing about it on the City Council's website. The only thing that pops up from Receding Waters and Hook of Maui seems to conclude that the most appropriate place for the sculture is at Red Rocks, with the laser pointing to the South Island. It could also double as a light house and an observatory for geologists to meausure in real time the distance between the two islands. However, the seals might get pissed off with the night light. Somehow, the seals' sleeping patterns would be considered more important than the humans who will have to put up with it in the harbour.

There's also the matter of scale. Motorway travellers won't be in a position to appreciate the Hookiness of the sculpture. To them, it will be a set of jaws in daytime, a Sky Tower-like light prick at night. It's hard to tell accurately from the shot, but the best sightlines to appreciate the true effect seem to be in Khandallah, waterfront offices, high rise office blocks and Oriental Bay. In short, it seems a bit like the rich putting their garden gnome on everyone's back lawn. Try to sticking that hook in Oriental Bay and see how far you get.

Arriving in Wellington is one of the best dramatic flourishes in NZ topography. Down the gullet of Ngauranga, under the railway bridge that unintentionally lowers one's expectations, a slow bend that unveils the entire harbour in all its glory. It is its own story without the embellishment of a bloody great hook along the way.

As for the Terrace Tunnel, there's less harm done there. It's watercolours on a pig's arsehole, so anything is better than nothing but concrete. But if there's going to be large-scale virtual waterworks, the Council should get more public toilets around the place. New arrivals will have an urgent urge to pee, and diurnal urinals are hard to find.

I'm looking forward to what Eye of the Fish can add to the debate!

Guy Fawkes webcam

Shouldn't really be letting on, seeing how the site is overloading already, but the MetService has its weather webcam focussed for the Wellington City Council's Guy Fawkes display. Fireworks on in 15 minutes.

Balancing the books

Unbelievable. A headline in today's DomPost says that the Wellington City Council is looking at ways of shaving around $50 million from their spending. This is fair enough, what with Dunedin City Council facing lending shortages, it is prudent to look at where pennies can be pinched.

The aim is to cut between 3 per cent and 5 per cent a year from council's operating expenditure. Saving $3.5 million a year over the next decade will save the council $52 million after compound interest is calculated.

Kerry Prendergast sez, "But it is not a fiddle around the edges. Staff have been told to go back and look at everything, and just because you think it is a sacred cow, it isn't."

Ms Prendergast said she "was determined to keep rates increases to the level of inflation" but did not want to see the indoor sports centre or upgrade of council flats affected. "They would both contribute to the health and wellbeing of Wellingtonians, so I would put those as a higher priority than the others."

I can understand the reluctance to cut back on the council flat upgrade, seeing as WCC funding is part of the deal to secure even greater central government funding for the project too. However, the Cobham Park project fits into the $50 million ballpark comfortably. Don't think of the park project as a sacred cow. It is a white elephant that is threatening the local environment. It needs to be put down.

Leave it to the bright sparks

At a time when local governments should be examining their budgets and living more within their (and ratepayers') means, Wellington City Council is ploughing on with the idiotic Kilbirnie Indoor Sports Centre.

Back in the early '90s, the Wellington Winter Show building on the corner of John and Wallace Sts in Mt Cook was a regular haunt for me. Back then it was painted bright yellow, like Rodney's jacket, and pimpled with big red half balls. Yea verily, it was ugly. You couldn't help to notice it. I used to play indoor volleyball there, and even worked as security guard for a Midnight Oil concert held there once.

These days, it's an anonymous gunmetal grey building. The boils have been lanced, and the building is host to a much more popular pursuit. The New Zealand School of Dance lives there, altogether a much more constructive use to house human movement.

So when I look at the clusterfuck at Cobham Park, it's not just the bad numbers that refuse to add up, or the logistics of traffic movement and storage, or the expontential pricetag. Let's all save a lot of mucking about and get straight down to the endgame.

Forget the 12-court >$62 million barn. Move the MetService there, just across the road from NIWA. We need to bring these two closer together and get some sparks flying.

Eva Dixon is dead

First they got humped out of Dixon St because of the smoking ban. Now they're getting biffed by Wellington Zoo, who are outsourcing their refreshments to the bland efficiencies of Spotless Catering. The owner-operator model is dying, but why is Iona Pannett to blame?

Poisoning Pigeons in the Park

Public servants and other office workers are in fear for their life, or at least their lunch, by pigeons in Midland Park. Defenceless retail assistants are getting mugged for their muffins, prompting Wellington City Council to issue an ultimatum to park users. Stop feeding them and littering, or the pigeons will be "culled."

While council staff consider "the most effective and humane way of culling the population," here's a range of suggestions free of charge:

• Have recordings of Jim Anderton speeches broadcast over speakers in the park. Either no-one will stay long enough to litter or feed the pigeons, or the drone will put the pigeons to sleep.
• Taser them. If it's humane enough to use on humans, it's OK for pigeons.
• Use up excess stocks of BZP by putting doses in raisins for the pigeons to consume.
• Have some bodypainters paint the birds with the NZ flag and let Tame Iti complete his community service by shooting at them.
• Turn John Key's mass of useless DVDs into shurikens. Charge $2 for a throw at a pigeon.
• Trevor Mallard spends summer working as a scarecrow at Midland Park. Optional extra, he can threaten to punch people for littering or feeding the birds.
• Sign up all the pigeons as National party members and let the Labour government do the rest.
  

VUWSA are not the only muppets

I wish I hadn't slept in yesterday morning. I was supposed to be up and down at Wellington City Council Committee Room One on Thursday morning to witness how Council puts together its serious program on the Strategy and Policy Committee. If one is serious about running for Council, one should be prepared to do the research, put in the hard yard. After all, one of these important strategic meetings must cost ratepayers thousands of dollars to run. You wouldn't want it run like a muppet show.

If I were a bad camper I would say Lose the Rube and Ditch the Ritchie.

de Cleene for Western Ward Wellington

I have decided on a soft launch for my chance to serve. I will be standing as a candidate for the Onslow-Western Ward in this year's Wellington local body election on the goNZo Freakpower ticket:



Detailed policy platforms, and maybe a dedicated website, later. However, the seven principles I stand by are:

A Proper Bill of Rights
Quality of Life
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
Research & Development
Death to Red Tape
Consumer Advocacy
Citizens' Support

In the meantime, please send any questions to zippygonzales@gmail.com.