Wednesday, 10 August 2005

Dunne slams Transit 'arrogance' on Transmission Gully

United Future leader Peter Dunne today slammed the "sheer arrogance" of Transit New Zealand for ditching the Transmission Gully roading option, adding that the matter was by no means closed.

"Transit is way out of line and taking decisions that are not it's to take. The people of Wellington will not have their future transport arrangements dictated like this," Mr Dunne said.

"This decision must be made here by the people of Wellington, not some faceless bureaucracy.

'This is the second time in a month that we have had shonky decisions made on Wellington's long-term roading plans, with the Government last month effectively holding a gun to Wellingtonians' heads with its transport package and saying 'if you don't go down the coastal highway path - no dough'.

"I said then that it was simply outrageous to have these behind-closed-doors deals made but Transit seems to think that it is okay. They have a lesson to learn.

"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."

ENDS

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