Media Release
City Vision Community Board Members - Auckland City Council
For Immediate Release
Friday 7 August 2009

Scorched Earth Policy Envisaged for Motorway Affected Residents

City Vision representatives on the Avondale, Eden-Albert and Western Bays Community Boards are appalled by the Auckland City Council Transport Committee’s decision yesterday to endorse the National Government’s surface and cut and cover option for the State Highway 20 (SH20) Waterview connection.

“This decision is reminiscent of an obsolete military policy of destroying community infrastructure,” said Avondale Community Board member Catherine Farmer.

“Yesterday expert submitters in urban planning, environmental preservation, historical research, landscape architecture and residents with local knowledge outlined to the committee the devastating effects on our communities if the current cut and cover option goes ahead.  However these submissions were ignored by the Citizens and Ratepayers (C&R) majority.  Riding roughshod over our collective community voice in this way is disrespectful and supports an unsustainable and unworkable option for this project,” she added.

Christopher Dempsey, Chair of Eden-Albert Community Board said, “A new surface motorway through urban Auckland does not leave perfume and sweet smelling flowers.  SH20 will impose significant environmental costs on the local communities, which they will have to pay for out of their own pockets as their health begins to suffer.  City Vision-Labour yesterday continued to battle for the original twin bored deep tunnels which will impose less environmental cost, but the C&R dominated Council has yesterday sadly continued its disdain for marginalised communities.”

Western Bays Community Board Chair Bruce Kilmister said, “I was amazed to witness Auckland City Council completely ignore the wishes of the community they were elected to represent.  The community at Waterview faces serious disruption for years of motorway construction that will ultimately divide the community and fundamentally alter their way of life.  I regret that C&R has not compared the cost of construction to the human cost of this community.”

“Environmental campaigners are very disappointed that after years of planting and conservation, our green spaces will be degraded and reduced by this option while C&R councillors won’t even commit to fighting to retain the same area of park and reserve land along the motorway route,” Ms Farmer concluded.

ENDS

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