let’s have a cry about LGWM

If you’re lucky enough not to be wired into the Wellington media consciousness, you might have missed the open letter released by a series of Wellington business owners today who are very concerned about the changes proposed by Let’s Get Wellington Moving to the Golden Mile — Wellington’s central business street(s) — wherein, cars will be reduced, footpaths will be widened, public transport and pedestrians will be prioritized.

This, as you might have guessed, is making a certain handful of business owners Very Unhappy.

This list of business owners includes a lot of businesses without physical addresses, some that aren’t in Central Wellington, some that have been dissolved/are dissolving, and then actually a handful that do run along the Golden Mile. Now, loathe am I to critique people for signing an open letter; I’m frequently signing things that I’m not directly involved in, but I just thought it was worth pointing out to give you some scope. You can see a map of all of the businesses here.

As a commuter, a person who lives in Central Wellington and frequents shops, theatres and cinemas in the area — as well as a person with a disability — I have some thoughts about this open letter.

Let’s break it down, ae?

“We speak as one in giving you this assessment of the Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) Golden Mile Proposal on which you will vote tomorrow: it will suck life from a city still reeling from the pandemic.”

The pandemic’s not over, boo, but aside from that — it’s interesting using cars as an example here when the majority of people visiting the Golden Mile do not use private cars to get there. Ernst and Young’s Retail Assessment on the Golden Mile showed that only 23% of folks coming to it do so by private car, in comparison to 35% by foot/bus/scooter, and 32% by public transport. That’s quite a substantial difference.

“The Proposal calls for the elimination of cars from Wellington’s central spine, the key retail and hospitality strip running from the Embassy Theatre to Parliament Buildings. What we call the Golden Mile will be given over exclusively to buses, cyclists and pedestrians.”

This isn’t true. This is not factual. It is a very general way to describe limiting access to the Golden Mile from side streets for most cars during certain hours of the day, and prioritizing pedestrian safety and convenience, as well as mobility access, rideshare and public transport. You can read all the proposed changes in the documentation at the bottom of this page. The statement above is reactionary language designed to make people reading want to lash out without all the facts.

“We’re all for the promotion of these forms of transport. We’re all for initiatives aimed at lowering the city’s carbon footprint. And we get it there has been a trend elsewhere towards banishing cars from urban areas.

But this is Wellington. We have our own set of conditions which require our own tailor-made solutions, not some borrowed template.”

Hey, y’know what? This bit is true. Wellington does have its own set of conditions that require its own tailor-made solutions, which is why the council has been consulting on LGWM since 2019 with ample opportunities to submit your thoughts and opinions on how their plan will work.

Wellington is a windy city crammed onto hills and within forests, with water on three sides. The city layout was initially planned favouring a grid system, which meant that the area could be “easily subdivided” but did not take into consideration the actual layout of the land — which is why so many of the streets in this city feel like they were designed by an idiot — passing through or up hills, rather than around them.

It is these factors that make the city godawful to drive and park in, with narrow and unpredictable streets and uncertain parking, which is one of the reasons why so many people favour utilising public transport, walking, cycling or scootering over private cars. We are the most walkable city in New Zealand and have the highest use of public transport in the country (per capita).

“Implementing this proposal will cost a whopping $139 million. Half that bill will be met by ratepayers and is money the Council doesn’t have. For what?

‘Pedestrians will reap most of the benefit’, LGWM consultants tell us. Really?

There are already wide, well-lit footpaths all along the Golden Mile. Coupled with Wellington’s compactness, they offer a positive pedestrian experience.”

I can’t write on the monetary bit, because unlike some people I don’t like writing about things I don’t understand, but I can definitely write about my experience on the Golden Mile as a pedestrian. Shit sucks!

Frequently, I’ve had to step into the road to avoid groups of marauding freshers off to get lit at Mish Mosh, and there’s a reason people make jokes about Lambton Quay being a traffic jam full of suits — cause during the workday, it is. The pedestrian experience in this city could be much better, but it is this reductive and insistent focus on cars by certain business owners that stop progress from happening.

“But crucially, this initiative will do nothing to enliven the city centre. After the shocks of recent years we’ve gone quiet. Turning our main artery into little more than a bus lane will not bring in people and help us recover. It will do the opposite.”

Cuba Street and Courtenay Place are jam-packed at night — one of those is pedestrian-only, if you’ll recall, and Lambton Quay/Willis St are packed during the day. This is actively visible if you spend any time in the central city. Public transport use city-wise is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels.

People, for the most part, do not drive into the central city for their errands. If they’re going further afield — sure — but driving is not the focus. Not to be a car-hater on main, but the vast majority of people do not come into the central city with the expectation of parking here.

The same can be said about attending large events in Wellington — as well as further afield in the rest of the country. People do not drive to games at the Wellington Regional Stadium. They don’t drive to the St James, to Circa, to the Opera House. They don’t drive to the Spark Arena or Eden Park. This is good. We do not want to be a city that handcuffs itself to the sanctity of its parking lots.

A city is its people, not its parking spaces.

“From the elderly person in a wheelchair deciding it’s too hard go to the ballet at the St James to the retailers and restaurateurs giving up because of the red tape and restrictions around service vehicles, people — the lifeblood of a city — will start seeing too many downsides to going downtown.”

Yes, while we’re here, let’s talk about accessibility. I’d say I’m uniquely qualified — my father is an amputee, both my parents are elderly, and I have a fatigue disorder that actively impacts my ability to walk long distances depending on my flare-ups.

It’s very interesting that the signers of this open letter care about accessibility in this moment while a lot of their premises have terrible accessibility that they’ve not found the time to remedy. Several business owners on this list have premises that:

• Are upstairs with no lift
• Are underground with no lift or ramp
• Are too small to fit wheelchairs
• Only have stool-based seating and not chairs with backs

But I guess it’s easy enough to evangelise about accessibility when you don’t have to personally do anything about it yourself.

People already don’t drive to the St James — as there is no parking nearby — and yet, somehow they manage to sell out full seasons of shows with demographics that are certainly a lot broader than the young, fit and healthy. People get the bus — which stops right outside, or uber/taxi — which stop right outside — or walk. It’s the same for the Opera House, for BATS, for the Gryphon, for Circa too.

There is absolutely a conversation to be had within the LGWM planning about accessibility, but not when it’s being used as a talking point and not in earnest good faith. When I made my submission this last round, I especially mentioned the lack of public toilets — another accessibility issue — within the planning. I sure hope y’all did too, since you clearly care about accessibility so much.

“An illustration of what lies in store if this proposal is acted upon is the old Manners Mall, now a bus lane. It has become a block characterised by empty retail spaces and discount stores.”

The section of Manners St between Victoria Street and Taranaki Street contains many popular eateries and several busy stores. I agree, it mightn’t be as pretty as you like, but characterising it as an apocalyptic wasteland while actively ignoring the Dixon, Egmont, Leeds, Cuba Quarter literally 20 metres away feels a bit pointed. Te Aro Park currently is being refurbished, which will support growth in the area as well.

“Getting cars out of city centres makes sense when you have London’s traffic congestion and population or Hamburg’s pollution. And it works in these places because they’re big. We’re a small city. It doesn’t take much to dissipate the energy and flow we have.”

The energy and flow we have is due to a most-effective public transport system! It carries the vast majority of our people across our city, spreads out along the arterial routes and weaves its way amongst the maze of our streets with (some) skill. Though it is not faultless, it is comprehensive.

It is our ability to adapt to the challenges of living in such a place that makes us who we are.

You need to adapt too.

To those of you who signed this open letter — I ask you this.

Do you truly believe life in Wellington would be better with more cars on the road?

Would you prefer the Golden Mile be a car-choked nightmare?

Do you enjoy the experience of being trapped in traffic on Tory Street or waiting 15 minutes trying to get around the Basin?

Do you really care about the potential accessibility of the Golden Mile refurbishments or are you just trying to create outrage clicks?

Most of your premises are either not in the central city or are right next to the arterial bus routes, directly across from bus stops, or within pedestrianized streets. You will be fine. But without significant changes to our infrastructure soon, our city might not be.

Take a breath. Steel yourself. You’ll get through this.