Submission on the Golden Mile Proposals 2020

Executive summary of this submission

The Wellington Chamber of Commerce – on behalf of the more than 1,200 businesses and 50,000 employees it represents – does not support the Golden Mile proposals presented by Let’s Get Wellington Moving.

Of the 336 businesses we recently surveyed, an overwhelming 90 per cent of businesses located on, and around, the Golden Mile believe the changes will negatively impact patronage, limit access, or make no positive difference. None of the options have contemplated impacts on access and traffic flow. Removing loading zone availability will debilitate businesses' 2 operations. Nearby car parks are critical for patronage. The message is clear - businesses feel that decision-makers are making business worse in the city, not better.

Wellington has suffered without any real developments for over a decade. Wellington must progress, the Chamber is not here to stand in the way of that - but it must be in the right, not wrong, direction.

1. The Chamber supports positive change for the city. Before going any further, Let’s Get Wellington Moving has a duty to prove how these proposals will benefit businesses on, and around, the Golden Mile.
2. The Chamber believes the current project-by-project approach is piecemeal and poorly executed. The city's transport network is all interlinked. Any decisions need to be based on the impact to the entire network.

We believe that the nearly $80 million proposed could be much better spent on fixing other parts of the network that have a greater Return on Investment and need. The proposed Golden Mile cost is near the $90 million of the original Basin Reserve fix - to widen footpaths and remove vehicles. It doesn't make any sound fiscal sense when funds are limited.

Evidence from the City Council, NZTA, and Let’s Get Wellington Moving’s own information diametrically oppose the ideas put forward in the proposals:

• Car parks in the Lambton/CBD area are heavily occupied and have quick turnover.
• Wellingtonians overwhelmingly support an increase in car park volumes.
• Wellingtonians are four times more likely to not make a trip to the city at all than they are to use alternative transport if car parks are unavailable.
• The success of a car-ban area is dependent on factors such as the supply of parking on adjacent streets.

LGWM must demonstrate how the proposals will enhance businesses on the Golden Mile, not exacerbate the challenges they already face. The Golden Mile is a key route in a dense inner-city network, and the proposals will fundamentally change traffic flow and place greater pressure on car park availability and congestion elsewhere in the city...

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