by Lindsay Shelton

You thought the Transport Agency made all the roading decisions? Not according to the DomPost, which reports the Prime Minister as saying: “We need to find a solution …. I just don’t have answers to it at the moment.”



This seeming takeover of the Transport Agency was reported by Stacey Kirk, who went to Monday’s Prime Ministerial press conference at Parliament and then reported:

The Government appears to be at a loss over what to do next since an appeal to save Wellington’s Basin Reserve flyover project was rejected by the High Court.

The report quotes John Key as admitting that he was given the wrong advice:

“My understanding was historically was the flyover was deemed to be by far the best solution at the most affordable price. Options of tunnelling, for instance, weren’t as realistic as some people would argue because I guess you can do anything but it was a tremendous cost and quite technically difficult to do. So if it’s not a flyover, I guess the question is what’s the next alternative and how easily can it be funded and how quickly can it occur?”

His government undeniably exercises a degree of control of the Transport Agency by appointing its chair and its board, and approving its annual (enormous) budget. But making decisions about roads in Wellington? Surely not? Here’s how the agency describes itself:

The NZ Transport Agency is a Crown entity governed by a statutory board. We are made up of highly experienced people drawn from an expansive range of skills, including planners and policy analysts, engineers, business advisors, contract specialists, IT, legal, property and financial professionals.

Which doesnt sound as if there’s much expectation of Prime Ministerial intervention in decision making. And Prime Ministerial opinions might not be absolutely reliable, anyway, as was discovered last year on TVNZ’s Q+A programme, when John Key’s remarks on the flyover were embarrassingly misinformed and led the Architectural Centre to issue a statement pointing out his incorrect claims.

Whether or not he’s expecting to participate in the next round of planning, the Prime Minister isn’t the only person who’s lost faith in the flyover. Even the DomPost, long a booster of the 300metre concrete bridge alongside the Basin Reserve, has given up on the idea. A DomPost editorial pronounces that now is the “time to leave it behind.” Admitting that the paper used to support the flyover (but not recollecting some of its sorrier scare headlines) the editorial says the High Court judgement has demolished the Transport Agency’s legal case, and goes on:

If the price of backing the flyover has now become endless delay and expense, the price is too high. So it is time to try something else …

Even John Milford has shown that he can change his mind, in spite of the fact that his predecessor in the Chamber of Commerce job is now employed by the Transport Agency. After years of boosting the flyover, he now says:

“Find another solution.”

And how to reach that solution? There are plenty of offers.

The Architectural Centre says it’s ready to work productively with the Transport Agency. Richard Reid, whose alternative at-grade roading design has always offered a non-flyover solution at the Basin, says he’s willing to keep developing his plan. Mayor Celia Wade-Brown is calling for a less intrusive roading solution and a fully integrated approach.

The next move is for the Transport Agency to show it’s changing its approach, and that it’s ready to collaborate, instead of trying to continuing its dictatorship.