Press-release from the City is Ours

Saying no to buses in Manners Mall
 
 
When Wellington City Council consulted the public late last year about the "Golden Mile Proposal" and the idea of opening Manners Mall to buses an overwhelming 74% of them said they did not like the idea. After hearing the oral submissions in February Councillors decided against public will and on the 4th of June voted for the buses through Manners Mall 11-4.

Their decision was received with disappointment by the public but more so the retailers on Manners Mall itself. The project will cause major disruptions to the retailers and the 3476 pedestrians daily and is anticipated to take one year to complete.
 
Residents of 3 apartment buildings on Manners Mall will have their amenity compromised also and when the buses start running through they can expect between 100-140 buses per hour at peak-times. Because Manners Mall is a narrow corridor introducing a bus only lane both ways will compromise the health and safety of citizens and visitors alike.
 
Wellington Regional Council has set their sights on keeping emissions to 2001 levels by 2016, by placing buses on the same "narrow" route they may find themselves in breach of international guidelines for healthy living. Not so long ago Greater Wellington put out a publication with the heading "Should the air you breathe carry a health warning". Last year 50 people died in the Wellington region from diseases such as respiratory illness and vascular disease related and/or caused by vehicular emissions,  with the young and the elderly most affected.
 
An Apartment Dwellers Survey held in 2008 tells us that in Wellington 12%of inner city apartments house children and 49% of apartment dwellers are 49 years or over. The current bus-travel arrangement between Dixon and Cuba Street gives a far better opportunity to arrest emissions at acceptable levels as buses are able to pull away when finished loading passengers.
 
 It has been suggested that when a bus breaks down on this route it will cause congestion and could take more than an hour to clear depending what time of the day it happens.
 
The Wellington ratepayers must ask themselves: Is it worth spending 11.1 million to save 30 seconds per trip? 
 
The good news is the "legal revocation" of Manners Mall needed to go to tender for contractors in order to start the project in 2010 has not been voted in yet and presents a second somewhat sharper bite at the cherry!. The City is Ours with the help of Democratic Services has successfully started a new e-petition on the council website to give Wellingtonians who love Manners Mall another chance to save it and the cost outlay of 11 million. A  budget of 1.5 million is set aside for improvements to Manners Mall. The e-petition expires on the 29th of August at 11.59 pm
 
Manners Mall will be protected, saying NO to revocation go: www.wellington.govt.nz/haveyoursay/e-petitions/ep/details/92

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