John MacDonald: All councils should learn from ECAN's open mind on rail

I hope Environment Canterbury isn’t bothering listening to Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey.  

He’s not impressed that the regional council is going to spend money doing a business case for a rail passenger service between Rangiora, Christchurch, and Rolleston.  

Matt Doocey says it’s nothing more than a pie-in-the-sky idea and, given we’re in a cost-of-living crisis, he says ECAN should stick to its knitting and focus on getting costs down and reducing rates. 

But what Matt Doocey should be doing —instead of criticising ECAN— is praising it for showing some initiative.  

He should be praising it for showing that it’s prepared to do the kind of big sky, big picture thinking that local government hasn’t been doing, and which we’ve been saying it should be doing.  

I think Doocey isn’t reading the room, and I suspect that there will be a lot of excitement about ECAN pushing this rail idea. What’s more, ECAN has put some money aside for a possible rail project.  

Plus, it’s talking about not just limiting this rail passenger idea to Rangiora, Christchurch, and Rolleston. It’s saying that, once up and running, the service could be extended to places like Amberley, Ashburton, Timaru, and even further south into Otago and Southland.  

I’m loving the idea. I’m also loving the fact that ECAN is prepared to put some skin in the game. To spend some money and find out once-and-for-all how much of a goer this could be.  

ECAN is onto something because if there’s a common complaint about how the earthquake rebuild played out, it would be the fact that, despite all the talk that Christchurch was going to be the most modern city in the country, it’s not. Because we’ve just stuck to the same old, same old when it comes to things like transport.  

And local government has to carry some of the blame for that. But now, ECAN wants to make good on that.  

What this comes down to for me is this: what do expect of local government?  

Do we just expect it to stick to its knitting and do the basic boring stuff? Or do we expect our councils to be the big picture thinkers?  

If you’re like me and you want to see councils doing the big picture stuff, then you’ll agree that we’ve lost the ability to think big.  

Mark my words, there’ll be no shortage of people running in the local body elections later this year banging-on about sticking to the basics.  

Whereas ECAN is showing that it’s thinking about the future, which is exactly the kind of thing I want to see not just from ECAN, but all our councils.  

Tell that to Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey, though.  

He’s saying today: ‘Rather than coming up with pie in the sky motions, ECAN should focus on reducing rates which have rapidly increased - putting more pressure on ratepayers in a cost-of-living crisis.’’  

Compare that to the likes of ECAN councillor Joe Davies who is saying we can’t wait 20 or 30 years, and we need a solution in the next five to ten years.  

He says: ‘There’s a corridor already in place so there would be significantly lower set-up costs and this is an opportunity to link Rangiora and Rolleston to the city.’’  

So he sees opportunity. Matt Doocey sees obstacles.   

ECAN sees opportunity and is doing something about it, which is the approach I want to see a lot more of from our local councils. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk ZB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
I hope, I really hope that environment Canterbury isn't bothering
itself listening to Weymacreedy MP Matt Doocey because he's not
impressed that the Regional Council is going to spend money
doing a business case for a rail passenger service between
rangy Yorda, christ Church and Rolliston. Matt Doocy is what
he's saying today. He says it's nothing more than a

(00:36):
pie in the sky idea, and given we're in the
cost of living crisis, he says he CAN should stick
to its knitting and should focus on getting costs down
and reducing rates. As what he's saying, as far as
I'm concerned, what Matt Doocey should be doing Instead of
criticizing he Can, he should be praising it for showing initiative.

(01:00):
He should be praising he CAN for showing that it's
prepared to do the kind of big sky, big picture
thinking that local government hasn't been doing and which we've
been saying it should be doing. And I don't think
Deuce is reading the room here, and I suspect that
there will be a lot of excitement about e Can
pushing this commuter rail idea, and all of its councilors

(01:24):
are behind it. The vote to work with Kiwi Rail
on a business case yesterday was unanimous. There's more to it.
What's more, e Can has put some money aside for
a possible rail project. Plus, it's not limiting its thinking
just to the Greater christ Rigeria. It's not just talking
rail passenger services to Rangiora, christ Church and Rollison. It's

(01:46):
also saying it could be extended to places like Amberley, Ashburton,
Temuru even further south Stephen and the Cargill Are you listening.
They're saying that it could even be extended further into
a targo in Southland. And I'm loving the idea, but
I'm particularly loving the fact that he Can is prepared

(02:09):
to put some skin in the game, to spend some
money and find out once and for all whether this
thing could be a goer. I'm not the only person
excited about it. I see an online poll this morning
as asking people if they would catch a train if
it ran between the city and Rolliston and rungy Order
instead of driving. When I last looked about ninety one

(02:31):
percent said yes there would. So he can is onto
something here, because if if there's a common complaint about
how the earthquake rebuild played out, it would be the
fact that despite all the talk that christ Church particularly
was going to be the most modern city in the country,
despite all that talk, it's not because we've just stuck

(02:51):
to the same old, same old when it comes to
things like transport and local government has to carry some
of the blame for that, but it seems now I
Can wants to make good on that. And what this
comes down to for me is this it comes down
to what we expect of local governments, like our regional council.
What we expect them to do. Do we just expect

(03:13):
them to stick to the knitting, do the basic boring stuff,
or do we expect our councils to be big picture thinkers.
If you like me and you want to see councils
doing the big picture stuff, then you will agree that
we've lost the ability to think big. We've encouraged counsels
not to think big, and mark my words, there'll be

(03:36):
no shortage of people running in the local body elections
later this year banging on about sticking to the basics.
You know, vote for me and I'll make sure we
stick to the rubbish collection and fixing the roads, that's all.
But that is so dull and boring and safe, and
it says nothing about the future, whereas ECAN is showing
that it is thinking about the future. And this is

(03:57):
exactly the kind of thing I want to see from
not just ECAN but all our councils. Tell that to
why make it eary? MP Matt Doocy, though he seems
to be getting I'm all fixated on one particular railway station,
saying that previous reports have indicated commuter rail on the
main track line is unworkable because the Addington station isn't
close to where the majority of people work and there's

(04:19):
some sort of lack of a passing lane to accommodate
freight Matt Doucy. He is saying today, quote, rather than
coming up with pie in the sky motions, e CAN
should focus on reducing rates which have rapidly increased, putting
more pressure on rate pays in a cost of living crisis.
End of quote. Boring, Matt boring. Compare that to the

(04:43):
likes of ECN councilor Joe Davies, who's saying we can't
wait twenty or thirty years. We need a solution in
the next five to ten years. Council of Davies says, quote,
there's a corridor already in place, so there would be
significantly lower set up costs. And this is an opportunity
to linkering the order in Ralston and Rolston to the
city end of quote. So he sees opportunity. Matt Doocey

(05:05):
sees obstacles, e can sees opportunity and it's doing something
about it. And that is exactly the approach I want
to see a lot more of from our local councils.
Matt Doocy says, it's pie and the sky and in
the cost of living crisis, he can should focus on
the then and get the rates down. Say it's not
pie and the sky. I say it's the kind of
big sky, big picture thinking that all councils should be doing.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
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