I nearly cried at work as the Council cancelled their upgrade to Courtenay Place and Lambton Quay.
The Golden Mile project would have refreshed our entertainment and business precincts with modern, people friendly spaces. It was a tentpole project for the city's climate response.
By getting more people bussing, biking, walking, and living in central Wellington, we could have cut our fossil fuel use and prevent further climate disruption.
The Government was going to put $70m into this project, with the Council matching their investment. It was getting more expensive to build, and Council needed to decide whether to increase the investment further. It chose instead to cancel it and come up with a brand new plan.
The Golden Mile was a project moving too slow for its own good. The project was planned and reviewed for a decade, got 25 metres into delivery, then faced the axe.
But it was also a beautiful vision: a genuine reimagining of Courtenay Precinct that would’ve made it wonderful to walk, roll, bike, or bus into our entertainment district.
Today, I want to explore what could have been, the flaws behind the choice to cancel, and what happens next.
What could’ve been versus what is.
What Courtenay could have been
Had the project gone ahead, Courtenay would have had the same modern, comfortable feel of Te Ngākau Civic Square with pubs, restaurants, and shops enclosing it.
Buses could have moved smoothly through the city and attracted more Wellingtonians to take good public transport around town. Protected bike lanes would've extended the reach of our cycling network.
Most importantly, it would’ve made living in central Wellington way nicer. Young people are going to cities that are improving themselves like Melbourne and Auckland. Who could blame them when Civic Square is the only big investment the city has made in reimagining public areas in… a decade?
The Golden Mile was a slow answer to 21st Century Wellington public space. By making the central city attractive again, more property developers would see the benefit in building new apartments. A confident city attracts people.
And when more people choose to live centrally, the more we make life low carbon by default. They’d live overwhelmingly car free in compact, fully electric homes. A huge win for the climate.
Alas, that vision for Courtenay Place and Lambton Quay is dead. The Council is going back to the drawing board. As they work on a new plan, we need to analyse why they cancelled.
What could’ve been versus what is.
A skeptical view of the cancellation decision
The longer the Golden Mile took to build, the higher the price to build it has grown. Because the price was increasing, Council chose last November to review the project’s value for money.
That review, released a couple of weeks ago, argued that the transport benefits of the Golden Mile aren't worth it. This was the political cover needed to axe the project.
That's why it scares me that the review got basic things wrong. Dr Timothy Welch found that the $460,000 review failed to count $189m in pedestrian benefits in their transport value for money calculations. It is basic practice of NZTA to include that stuff. The review didn't even try to calculate biking benefits for a project that would’ve added a protected bike lane.
The quality of this review is concerning, especially since it was used to cancel the project. By cancelling, councillors handed $70m of free money back to NZTA. Wellington City Council expects NZTA to give that money back for their next attempt at fixing Courtenay Place.
Good. Luck. With. That.
NZTA's too busy building ~$50 billion worth of unaffordable highways to spend anything on our public transport.
Even if the review gave the thumbs up, we've been told that Wellington simply can't afford it. That was why councillors Sam O'Brien and Afnan Al-Rubayee cancelled the project, clearly conflicted.
That gutted me, because Wellington can absolutely afford this project.
Councillors have been told by staff for years that they should defund transformative city investments just in case there’s a large earthquake. How large? A once in a thousand year earthquake. Council keeps debt low to partially insure assets against this quake. The problem is, restricting borrowing stifled city investment but barely covers 10% of uninsured assets.
As far as I understand, if that devastating quake came, we’d be the same level of fucked whether we borrowed a little more or a little less right now.
Wellington has big challenges. The city’s population hasn’t been growing for years. Our city is losing people to Petone, Auckland, and Melbourne. Our economy is struggling and the Beehive keeps making big cuts to our workforce.
What’s the point of saving to repair a city later when leaders refuse to stop it from decaying now?
As an aspirational twenty-something, it feels really shitty that most councillors are prioritising slightly lower debt over transformative improvements that would make people want to stay here.
So, what happens next?
In August, the Council will decide what the future of Courtenay Place looks like.
They've already agreed to clean Courtenay Place weekly rather than monthly. The city will give $150k to Willis Bond and other property developers to restore their awnings, repaint buildings, and clean up the general streetscape.
They'll hopefully have a plan for an alternative Courtenay Place improvement project with a slashed budget by December.
While we’re not sure what the new project will look like, I can see it going one of two ways.
Everything could go right for improving Courtenay Place…
Right-wing councillors, who spent a decade talking about business disruption and loss of car parking, could change their mind and work constructively to reimagine the precinct.
NZTA could even co-fund the project, despite the fact they haven’t funded a bunch of public transport improvements as recently as last month.
We could get a better Courtenay Place with improved public transport and walking. There probably won’t be bike improvements, but we can dream.
Fingers crossed it's delivered by 2028.
Or, everything could go as they went last time…
Right-wing councillors could start complaining about the new project: how car parks will be lost and that the precinct only needs new paving. They could continue to obstruct and delay like they did last time.
NZTA could decide not to co-fund the project because Wellington's highway expansions are engulfing the Beehive's budget. The council could be on the hook for $80m in costs... or slash investment in our central city further.
The transformative vision to help our climate and our city vibrancy could be diluted down to changing pavers.
After a decade of Wellingtonians asking for urgent change on Courtenay Place, the Council has gone back to the drawing board entirely.
We were this close to finally starting on an awesome, energised Golden Mile. It has devastated me that we're back to square one at the very moment Wellington needs a win.
The Mayor made a big call to cancel this project. Now it sits squarely on current Council leadership to deliver transformational change to Courtenay Place this decade.
They will face emboldened opposition to change and a hostile central Government who loves funding highways far more than bus lanes.
The road ahead (repaved or not) is long. It will be interesting to see whether Wellington City Council has what it takes to do more than manage Wellington’s decline.
I bloody hope they do.
