1 2 Submission Form: Submitted by Joy Svendsen to KCDC Comments regarding Multi Modal transport Draft LTCCP 2009 / 19 Draft Community Outcomes 2009 Submissions closed 5pm, Thursday 14 May 2009 Which document What page are you of the Comments: commenting document? on: part 1, 2 or 3? 66 Actively promote more Train use, more stations, jazz up railway stations with 1 Maori, Nature Coast theme make them people friendly community gathering Places. Provide wind protection on platforms and make them friendly fun place to be, renovate with innovative recycled materials eg. Huntertwisser type toilets made from recycled bottles, pathways made from recycled glass, vegetables in gardens to pick on way home from work, fruit trees in car parks. More stations at Raumati, Lindale, electrify line to Otaki, cheap bus and train tickets for regular users, elderly and unwaged cheap off peak rate. Free train midnight to 2am. Electric Tuk Tuk or similar meet commuters on All trains and take to doorstep. TukTuks used in off peak for tourist Promotion. Promote bicycle to stations, provide pay as u go hire bikes that are rented to tourist during off peak hours. Promote use of electric scooters and electric bikes for commuting locally to railway station, pay as u go charging stations. Make all railway stations safe and women & elderly friendly. Promote car pooling to Wellington for those not serviced by train 3 Joy Svendsen LTP Submission Additional Information 17 May 2012 Additional information to be attached to submission form and questions form Access and Transport KCDC has not fought aggressively enough against the proposed 4 lane Expressway and for the reinstatement of the Western Link Road. This needs to be remedied by extensive legal and expert witness presentations at the EPA. The proposed expressway creates an unacceptable severance from the existing rail service and railway stations at Waikanae and Paraparaumu. The proposed 4 lane Expressway will not enhance community connectivity or encourage use of public transport or alternative sustainable transport methods. It does not fit with any of KCDC Access and Transport goals and therefore continues to need to be fully opposed by KCDC. Turning the existing State Highway 1 into a local road will incur an unacceptable debt for the local community, by opposing the proposed 4 lane Expressway KCDC will be saving this enormous amount of additional spending. Libraries, Art No money should be spent on upgrading the Mahara Gallery or the Waikanae Library until the 4 Lane Expressway is cancelled and work has begun on the Western link local road. If this does not happen then Waikanae township centre as it is now will cease to exist and any investment in the Library or Mahara Art Gallery will be a complete waste of ratepayer’s money. If the 4 lane expressway is built the Mahara Gallery will need to be relocated to a place the is easily accessible to the entire district. Waikanae Library will have to be downgraded to fit the greatly reduced usage and possibly moved as the centre of the Waikanae community is relocated or ceases to exist all together. The money saved from deferring these upgrades should be spent on building the Maungakotukutuku Dam. Development Management If the Expressway Plan is approved and built there are many of the current levels of service which will not be met: there must be a plan for completely relocating the Waikanae Town Centre as it will no longer be a high-quality, public space that meets the community’s needs for safety, amenity and functionality. The District Plan will need a complete rewrite as 90% of the Districtwide and local community outcomes relating to character, growth management, intensification, affordability, and the natural environment as reflected in the District Plan will not be met. 4 Fri 27/05/2011 1:15 p.m. copy of submission, submitted by Joy Maree Svendsen Submission on the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport 2012-2022. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS TO TRANSPORT MODES 1) Dramatically reduce funding allocated to new state highways. The Government Policy Statement suggests that over the next 10 years we should invest $13.7 billion (based on an average of the low and high range of expected expenditure) in building new state highways. This is over a third (39%) of the total land transport fund for this period. I strongly disagree with this. I am concerned that many of the current Roads of National Significance being built in New Zealand have very poor economic justification (e.g., Puhoi to Wellsford, Wellington Northern Corridor) and will have devastating environmental and social impacts. I especially refer to the Mackays to Pekapeka and Pekapeka to Otaki section. This road has a negative cost benefit ratio and will destroy a very sensitive coastal area and have irreversible social impact on a series of small communities within. I believe that most of the possible new Roads of National Significance listed in the Government Policy Statement are likely to have even poorer economic cases and deliver a lower return on investment. Building more state highways will do nothing to resolve problems such as rising oil prices, climate change or congestion. The government should drastically reduce the amount of funding going into into new state highways over the next 10 years to just 10% (maximum) of the National Land Transport Fund. Building more highways does not solve congestion problems and we cannot afford such follies in the present economic climate. 2) New rail projects should be eligible for funding from the National Land Transport Fund. This would mean that new capital expenditure on rail projects would have an assured and secure source of funding as new cap ex on roading projects does. It would also enable councils to provide their residents with improved public transport and help reduce our dependency on cheap oil. I do not accept the argument that rail projects should be excluded from the National Land Transport Fund because most of our transport funding comes from the fuel tax paid by motorists. It is clear that rail projects which reduce congestion do benefit motorists in various ways (through reduced congestion leading to faster travel times, cleaner air, safer streets, reduced risk of catastrophic climate change etc). On the Kapiti Coast particular the newly opened Waikanae Railway station has proved that closer access to railway stations does reduce peak time traffic congestion. We do not need bigger truck and trailer units on our roads but rather investment in freight via rail. 3) Increase funding allocated to walking/cycling. Currently walking/cycling is allocated less than 1% of the total National Land Transport Fund. However, walking/cycling infrastructure is often very cost-effective and has multiple benefits including reducing congestion, improving our health, reducing air pollution, and making us more resilient to rising oil prices. I believe funding for these modes should be increased immediately to 3% of the National Land Transport Fund, rising to at least 6% by 2022. 4) Increase funding allocated to public transport services The Government Policy Statement allows for an increase of only $90 million in subsidies for public transport services over the next 10 years. PT services will receive only 10% of the national land transport fund. This suggests that the government is content to allow public transport patronage to increase only slightly over this time. This will lead to increasing gridlock in our major cities such as Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland. Auckland, in particular, will experience such dramatic population growth over the next 10 years it is difficult to see how it could accommodate such a small increase in public transport use and remain a functional city. The government should increase funding available to public transport services dramatically, aiming to increase it to 16% of the National Land Transport Fund by 2022. 5) Increase funding allocated to new public transport infrastructure currently just over 1% of the current National Land Transport Fund (or $370 million) is allocated to building new public transport infrastructure. This is clearly inadequate to achieve, for example, the improvements to the Auckland passenger rail system 5 that have been identified as a priority by the Auckland Council and Aucklander’s in numerous surveys. It will also not pay for the improvements to public transport wanted by other major councils in Wellington and Christchurch. I suggest that the Minister should increase funding for new public transport infrastructure to at least 25% of the National Land Transport Fund by 2022. 6) Decrease funding allocation to state highway maintenance. Currently state highway maintenance and renewal will take a significant proportion of the National Land Transport Fund (16%). It is important to ensure that our state highway network is maintained to an adequate level to keep NZ drivers safe. However, I believe that if the Minister does not pursue his proposed policy of investing significant sums into building new state highways and, instead, redirect these funds towards improving our rail, bus, walking and cycling systems then traffic on our state highways will be dramatically reduced. Shifting more freight by rail and coastal shipping will also reduce impacts on the state highway network. This will mean less money is needed for maintenance and the proportion of the national land transport fund allocated to state highway maintenance and renewal can be reduced to 10% or less. DESIGN OF THE GOVERMENT POLICY STATEMENT Having set out the funding allocations I would prefer to see I also wish to state that I disagree with the current way in which the Government Policy Statement process works. I believe that the process gives too much power to the Minister of Transport to interfere in our transport funding decisions for political reasons.