Two Wellington councils have clashed over carparks, with the regional council accusing the city council of undermining its transport strategy.
Greater Wellington Regional Council chairperson Daran Ponter, and the chairperson of its transport committee Thomas Nash, have written to Wellington City Council expressing “concern” over a decision to reinstate carparks on the city-to-Karori route.
These parks were initially removed to allow for uphill bus and bike lanes on Glenmore St, alongside the Botanic Gardens.
But on February 27, the city council’s regulatory processes committee asked council officers to investigate options for reinstating them, citing concern from residents.
The regional council, which runs the public transport network through Metlink, said the changes had eased congestion and increased bus capacity — and as these bus and bike lanes were jointly designed, the regional council should have been consulted on any changes from the start.
“We note that Greater Wellington has a Memorandum of Understanding and funding agreement with WCC in place as part of the wider Karori Connections Project; as part of this agreement we would expect any roading changes along the corridor that impact public transport should be aligned and agreed with Greater Wellington prior to proceeding,” the letter said.
It also pointed out any changes to bus stops, either in quantity or length, affected the wider network – in particular, whether the five electric articulated buses it was in the process of ordering would be able to service that route.
“We don’t need a handful of councillors from one of these partners wading in as traffic engineers to make unilateral changes that undermine our bus network,” Nash told RNZ.
“Remember at peak time buses move about half the people on Wellington’s main arterial routes, but only take up 2% of the vehicles.”
Committee chairperson Sarah Free, to whom the letter from Greater Wellington was addressed, said no decisions had been made yet.
“We’re very happy to talk to [the regional council], of course, and we will welcome concerns from elected members.”
Councillors would make the final decision on a preferred option, which would then go out for public consultation, on April 9.
Free said there were a lot of stakeholders and road users to consider, but the city council would “obviously put a high priority on maintaining a safe and convenient passage for our buses”.
The city council said officers from both sides were now working on the options, with Metlink providing technical advice.
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