Dunne: ‘Greater’ Wellington should change its name

United Future leader and Ohariu-Belmont MP, Peter Dunne, says the Greater Wellington regional council has let itself and the Wellington region down badly by its dithering and wavering over support for the Transmission Gully motorway project.

“This is the time for united action by Wellington local and central government to get on with securing a stable, secure land transport route in and out of the capital in order to promote the social and economic welfare of the entire lower North Island.

“We will never persuade central government that Transmission Gully is a priority worth fighting for, if we cannot present a unified regional voice on the issue.

“We should be pulling together right now, not falling apart.

“Yet we are still faced with the unedifying sight of some so-called Greater Wellington councillors failing to stand up for the interests of the people who voted for them,” he said.

“At a time when the region’s business and transport interests, among others, are calling for concerted action to get the project underway, these ‘lesser’ or ‘smaller’ Wellington councillors are doing their best to sabotage this regional effort.

“Perhaps it’s time for the Council to change its name to Backwards Wellington or Unimportant Wellington to reflect its true priorities,” said Mr Dunne.

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