The Wellington City Council is hearing a petition submitted by local businesses to stop roadwork that will remove car parks to clear the way for a proposed cycleway linking Newtown to the city.
In its issue dated March 25, 2022, Indian Weekender highlighted the resistance mounted by the business owners when the Council announced the move to restructure the roads in this suburb.
Around 745 signatures were collected for a hybrid petition (paper and online) urging the Council to hold consultations with business owners from the area before bulldozers start rolling.
The loss of parking will hit businesses along the John Adelaide and Riddiford intersection, a heritage stretch dating back over 80 years.
“Wellington risks losing a heritage site,” says Urmila, who runs a grocery started by her parents more than 50 years ago. "Businesses in the area have funded a lot of the sprucing up of the heritage buildings. They have invested quite heavily in Newtown for that to be removed.”
Urmila, under whose leadership the business owners in the area petitioned the Council, says the intersection is a transit area to get to other suburbs such as Island Bay, Kingston, Miramar and Kilbirnie.
More critically, the area surrounds the local hospital and auxiliary medical services, such as blood testing and imaging, will be disrupted if cars are not allowed to park in the vicinity. Patient and outpatient flow to the hospital will be affected as a result.
“ These changes result from several years of planning and policy work that has involved substantial public consultation and engagement," Council chief planning officer Liam Hodgetts told local media.
But Urmila disagrees. “ There was no consultation from the get-go,” she claims. The review process was triggered after business owners approached the Council with their petition.
There is also a lack of clarity around whether the cycleway is a trial. “We were told it was a trial, but it's becoming permanent," Urmila says.
The petition submitted by the business owners could force a fresh vote in the Council. If councillors vote to go ahead with the cycleway without consultation ( or “further” consultation, as the case may be), the bulldozers will start to roll next week.
For Urmila, democracy is on test. "So that’s the issue. No consultation, no democracy. And New Zealand is a democracy, not an autocracy,” she says.