Two Christchurch city councillors, Aaron Keown and Phil Mauger, are asking the council to release the draft Christchurch Transport Plan by the end of August to inform the community of new and radical initiatives in the document before the upcoming local body elections.

The Christchurch Transport Plan, to be voted on by the incoming council, will be the foundation document of how Christchurch people will travel in the future.

Councillor Mauger says initiatives in the plan include imposing tolls on roads, congestion charging, as well as charging parking fees in places where no parking costs currently exist.

Councillor Keown says, “These initiatives are significant changes to how council currently operates. Our community need to know the contents of the document to make informed decisions ahead of the election and to understand how councillors will vote on these new initiatives.

"Voters need to know if the candidates they are voting for support the proposed changes or not. The changes proposed are focused on pricing people out of cars, not helping to save the environment,” said Councillor Keown.

Councillor Mauger added, "We keep hearing about a future with EV's and hydrogen cars, but this document drives us toward no cars of any sort. As a community we should have a discussion and consult on what people think of the initiatives proposed."

To sum up Councillor Keown said, "We just want to have an open conversation with the public where they get to choose whether they want a council who will facilitate or dictate the future of Christchurch transport.”

Keown and Mauger have a notice of motion coming to the August 25th council meeting asking the Council to publicly release the draft Christchurch Transport Plan before the up coming election.

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