Tuesday, 5 July 2005
Dunne slams roading 'farce'
Wellingtonians are being "stitched up" by the Government and the Wellington Regional Council to accept the coastal
highway or nothing, United Future leader Peter Dunne said today in response to the Government's Wellington roading
funding announcement.
"This is a dirty deal that puts money up, but effectively holds a gun to Wellingtonians' heads and says 'if you don't go
down our path - no dough'.
"It is simply not acceptable. It's outrageous to do a behind-closed-doors deal in favour of the coastal highway and then
expect the people to accept that," Mr Dunne said. He said the Government had been quite duplicitous, saying one thing
publicly and another privately.
"Basically, they're trying to push Transmission Gully right out of the picture and move for the four-laning of the
coastal highway, but it simply doesn't stack up when you look at what Wellington will require from its roading network
in the years ahead.
"If the coastal highway goes ahead, we will have many more years of the current sub-standard transport infrastructure
while all the myriad consents are ploughed through just so work can be done on a route that will destroy coastline and
the Ngati Toa Domain, is flood-prone and vulnerable to earthquakes," he said.
"And Wellington will remain without a second main route in the event of a natural disaster.
"This reeks of short-term thinking by short-sighted people," Mr Dunne said.
He said Greater Wellington Council chairman Ian Buchanan's "part in this charade" goes well beyond any decision his
council has ever made.
"It's time for the people of Wellington to have their say. "For years they have been screaming out for Transmission
Gully - they do not deserve to be let down by weak regional leadership and Government smoke and mirrors the way they
have been today," he said.
ENDS