City Vision Cries Foul Over Motorway Mitigation

Eden Albert councillors and candidates are crying foul over the final mitigation measures being proffered by the New Zealand Transport Authority (NZTA) and the undemocratic way in which its motorway consents are being fast-tracked by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Margi Watson, Candidate for the Owairaka subdivision of the Albert-Eden Board and Tunnel or Nothing Spokesperson said, “NZTA has not delivered. Affected communities sought mitigation: including buried control buildings in Waterview and Allan Wood Reserve; exhaust stack filtering; improved connections between communities; cycleways and pedestrian bridges and replacement parks. The people of Pt Chevalier, Waterview, Avondale Heights, Mt Albert and Owairaka will bear the brunt of this six-lane motorway, while losing access to their parks and open space.”

“The EPA publicly notified the Waterview Connection on 18 September 2010. This is the first roading project to use the new national consenting process. The fast-tracked project will be rubber stamped in less than nine months, with no regard for the needs of the most severely impacted communities or the environment. It is the largest application ever completed by NZTA and will destroy the communities and green space within its path.

Cr Cathy Casey said she was appalled at the cavalier way the NZTA was treating the people most affected, “I attended the local meeting by NZTA on the weekend. I am astounded that the community groups and residents most affected by SH20 are being only given 20 working days to read, interpret and submit on over 40 volumes of information, a new designation and 54 resource consents. When I asked where we could see the information, the NZTA said two of the volumes would be online and the other 38 could be seen at the NZTA offices in Queen Street. This is New Zealand’s largest transport project, surely the NZTA could afford to rent an empty house in Waterview to allow locals access to the information so that they can respond appropriately?”

Councillor Glenda Fryer says the Council must back the call from local residents for more mitigation and more time to consider the designation. "Some of the mitigation is not going to be paid for by the Government. They have left the new Auckland Council to foot the bill on some much needed pedestrian linkages, so there is no certainty when this mitigation will happen. I have put this issue on the Eden Albert Community Board agenda (Wednesday 22 Sep) requesting that the EPA double the time in which submissions can be made to 40 working days to allow for proper consultation with the community. This application shouldn't be treated the same as an extension to a residential home. It is a hugely complex designation project swathing through our residential communities and communities need sufficient time for their experts to respond."

ENDS

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