Community group to focus on bringing Island Bay together

Today’s decision by the Democratic Voice of Island Bay community group not to pursue legal action against Wellington City Council’s proposal to build a cycle way in Island Bay comes after the desire to use the resources to build bridges within the community instead.

Island Bay resident and group spokesperson, Jane Byrne, said the group was formed after concerns were raised about the 3km controversial cycle way from several hundred residents, retailers and local leaders.

The group sought legal advice a week ago and requested the council mediate and discuss a compromise as a first step before considering further action.

“Council Chief Executive, Kevin Lavery, has acknowledged the processes leading to the decisions taken on Island Bay hold lessons for both officers and Councillors” says Ms Byrne.

Ms Byrne says “We want to thank the many hundreds of people for their support – we’ve been overwhelmed with financial contributions of $15,000 and pledges are still coming in from all over Wellington totalling well over $80,000”.

The funds will cover legal fees to date and the rest put towards initiatives in Island Bay.

“We found everyone had one thing in common – their love for Island Bay and the things that make the community special. We can’t do that sitting on opposite sides of the fence – it’s time we came together” says Ms Byrne.

Group representatives discussed their ideas with Island Bay resident and Wellington City Councillor Paul Eagle today. He encouraged the Group to create an ‘Island Bay Plan’ that should be “built by all the people of Island Bay – not council telling the community what’s good for them.”

Ms Byrne says, “We’re excited by this idea as there’s so much going on in Island Bay, we’ve got a seawall to fix and the next stages to sort out, possible medium density housing issues and saving the Erskine College chapel to name a few”.

A draft process for developing the Island Bay plan will be completed in the coming weeks and presented to both council officers and councillors for assistance in November.

ENDS

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