Nick Mills: Golden Mile works must be paused until Wellington votes

OPINION

The Golden Mile. Three words that terrify business owners on Lambton Quay, Willis Street and Courtenay Place.

You know the plan. Removing cars from those three streets, pedestrianising the roads and installing bus lanes only. Parking will be gone too.

It started off with Let's Get Wellington Moving. Then that was scrapped.

But Wellington mayor Tory Whanau promised to make sure it still went ahead. She secured the money from the coalition government and made it something of a legacy project.

But recently the council had gone silent on the plan. We learnt no contracts had been signed and there were certainly no shovels in the ground.

But ysterday the media were called into Wellington City Council offices for a top-secret meeting to reveal the latest plans.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talks at B.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
There's no prizes for guessing what we're going to start
the show with this morning. The so called Golden Mile.
It started off with Wellington moving seven point four billion
dollar project that was going to change the whole of Wellington,
and then that was gone, was scrapped, but Wellington met

(00:35):
Tory Farno promised to make one thing happen. She secured
the money and it was going to be her legacy
and we are going to have the Golden Mile, Tory said.
You know, the plan removed cars from Lampton Key along
Willis Street to Courtney Place. They want to pedestrianize it
with bus lanes only parking gone. But the council all

(00:59):
of a sudden when silent. Remember it was going to
start in January, no contract's been signed and there was
definitely no shovels in the ground. Remember they were just
going to do the corner. Well, let's move on. Well,
yesterday the media was called into one Inton City Council
offices for this really top secret embargoed till five am

(01:20):
this morning news briefing. And this morning we get the News,
and it turns out that the big secret report was
a little bit of hot air. First of all, contracts
for the whole project still have not been signed. Have

(01:40):
not been signed, wan gon to be very clear on
all this. The only contract that has been signed, apparently
is for the corner intersection of Courtney Place, Kent Terrace
and Cambridge Terrace. That one intersection outside the Embassy Theater
spades in the ground by April and it will take

(02:01):
eight months to complete. Eight months for one inter section. Now,
let's be perfectly clear about this. It's not any old intersection.
It's going to be the best intersection in New Zealand,
possibly the world, the torriy Farno intersection move over the

(02:24):
Arc deterion from Paris. Wellington has Tory's corner. Maybe it's
fitting that it's one of the gateways to the party
zone of Wellington. But if that's it, no other contracts,
no idea when the work's going to start on the
rest of the Golden Mile, no idea what else is

(02:44):
going to happen. We have got Wellington's version of the
Arc de right in our back door in Courtney Place.
For what it is, Tory's legacy project and something very
important to her. She is moving extremely slowly on getting
it done. Not that that worry is her. This is

(03:08):
what she said in the secret secret briefing yesterday.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
I think this is the happiest I've felt since the election.
To be honest, it's and have the hard hat on
the jacket and I will literally dig up the ground myself.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
I will be there to see that. Then there's the cost.
The entire project is forecast to cost one one hundred
and sixteen million dollars, but the council would not say
yesterday the breakdown for just the Courtney Place section. You
know what it's commercial sensitivity. Got that we know it's

(03:47):
one hundred and sixteen. We haven't been told what the
corner was going to cost us, so we don't know
how much it's going to cost for the Courtney Place part.
Why is this top secret? Then you've got the support
for businesses. Remember, pay the businesses. We'll give them some money,

(04:08):
will help them out. They know they're going to do
it tough. There's going to be zilch now nothing suck
it and save. Farno announced the business relief packages for
its disruptions would not be happening I wonder if it
was a secret meeting. No surprises there. Then there was

(04:30):
her silly comments about Lisa's She met with her Maurial
Mirrorty business group this week to discuss the possibility of
renting out the empty spaces when places go broke, they'll
be empty months to month to allow for pop up stores.
By the way, the council owned none of these properties,

(04:52):
so how do they decide what goes on with them?
What a silly comment, and I'm sure the landlords will
be really happy about telling their bank managers. Oh, by
the way, we've lost our ten year, two hundred thousand
dollars lease a year lease and we're getting hopefully the
Council is going to help us get some pop ups.

(05:13):
But being really serious here, I've always felt the improvement
for Courtney Place is imperative for our city to move forward.
But the timing could not possibly be worse. We have
a multi million dollar development going on, a reading about
to take place, we have businesses struggling from three to

(05:34):
four years of the toughest economic climate most can ever remember,
and we're going to destroy Courtney Place before we rebuild it.
And starting in April six weeks away. The main part
of the contract. We have no idea when that starts.
You just have to look at Thornton Key and what's

(05:55):
happening in Waitefield Street right now to see what the
disruption is going to cost and the damage that it's
going to do. There's only one solution to all this,
in my eyes, is stop and wait. Now. I'm not
about stopping and waiting. I'm about going forward and being progressive.
But we've got eight months to an election. Wellington need

(06:16):
to have this say. We have to at least hold
on to the next election before we do anything. Whether
Tory wins the mayoralty again, it can be a referendum
on the Golden may Really, if you vote for Tory,
that's what you're getting. It's a referendum when you don't
have a referendum, isn't it. Tory admits herself it's her

(06:38):
supporters who want this, not necessarily all of Wellington.

Speaker 3 (06:45):
This is what certainly my supporters have wanted. It's what
our next generation university students, the art sector really want
because it's going to create a safe and welcoming space
for people to just be there.

Speaker 2 (07:03):
Now, you see, I worked this out really easy. If
Wellington wants this whole Golden Mile, and you know what's
starting in Courtney Place and all that, they'll vote Tory
back in. And if Tory gets back and I say,
fill your boots, build your field of dreams, Tory, Tory's
Golden Mile, and I'll stand there clapping when the builldozers
come in. I'll support you totally. But work should not

(07:25):
start now, and this council should stop and wait before
negotiating any more contracts. This is a terrible decision with
the timing of an election eight months away. Why would
you start a project that you cannot finish during this
timing of an election year.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen live
to news talks It'd Be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
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