Wellington City Council Defends Process That Led To Decision To Demolish City To Sea Bridge
Lawyers for Wellington City Council say councillors were given multiple options, and deny staff pushed them towards demolishing the City to Sea Bridge., Journalist
Lawyers for Wellington City Council say councillors were given multiple options when considering whether to demolish the City to Sea Bridge, and deny staff pushed them to that option.
The council on Tuesday was presenting its side of a judicial review into plans to demolish the bridge – which connects the city's waterfront to Civic Square – in the Wellington High Court.
Lawyer Bridie McKinnon said applicants the Wellington Civic Trust had cast council officers as the villain in their testimony, alleging the officers filtered out options that did not adhere to a predetermined preference to demolish the bridge.
She said the officers worked under intense pressure and public scrutiny.
McKinnon said officers costed multiple solutions to make the bridge earthquake-safe, and set up workshops with engineering firms that councillors were able to attend.
She said the council was within its rights to focus on solutions that achieved its goals of safety, affordability, maintaining the site's aesthetic and allowing other construction work in the city's Civic Square to go on uninterrupted.
'Nowhere in the Local Government Act is the council obliged to identify all reasonably practicable options. That is not the standard. The obligation is to seek to identify them. The extent of those inquiries is at the council's discretion,' McKinnon said.
'It is not an open ended inquiry which never ends. The process of local government decision making would grind to a halt.'
She said public consultation on the fate of the bridge acknowledged demolition was a preferred option at that point.
She said council officers put forward six separate options, including lesser strengthening options, 'with a host of reports' explaining why these options were preferred or otherwise.
'Council officers undertook a significant amount of work to investigate the available options and present relevant information to councillors for their decision.
'They held site visits, held workshops with engineers and experts – [including] workshops open to councillors – to hear directly from experts. They concepted designs that were considered reasonable by experts even if they weren't considered reasonably practicable.
'Most, if not all, of the options that the Trust says were not provided to the council were – in fact – provided to councillors as options and were considered by council staff.'
McKinnon countered the Trust's characterisation of public consultation as relating to demolition options only as a reasonable reflection of the council's goals for the precinct within the context of its funding limitations.
'The nature of consultation often contains predeterminations in some sense. To consult on strengthening would have been disingenuous when the council did not have anywhere near the funding required to do so based on the information council had at the time.'
On Monday, lawyers for the Trust suggested that reducing the Importance Level (IL) – a measure of earthquake risk – of the Capital E building could open up a greater variety of options for strengthening the bridge to a level that was more aligned with its current use, following the closure of Capital E after it was designated earthquake-prone following the Seddon earthquake in 2013.
But McKinnon told the High Court on Tuesday that even with the lower IL2 designation, the building was unlikely to achieve more than 34 percent of its strengthening requirements.
McKinnon cited consulting reports into the building works going on about Civic Square in buildings such as the Town Hall, the former Capital E site – beneath the bridge – and the nearby Council CAB building.
She said the Civic Square area was subject to multiple issues – relating to flooding, earthquake damage and sea level rise – and all structures and public spaces in the area would have to be designed and built with a 'high degree of resilience' to withstand future events.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
3 hours ago
- Scoop
PSA Welcomes Mayoral Candidate's Commitment To Pay Equity
The union representing library workers at Wellington City Council welcomes mayoral candidate Andrew Little's commitment to pay equity, and encourages all local body candidates to make the same commitment. "This is just the latest example of people across the political spectrum recognising the Government's vandalism of the Equal Pay Act as an unjust attack on women," said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary of the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi. "We call on the Council to fix the undervaluation it knows is there, and deliver pay equity to these workers." "Local body candidates around the country have the chance to do the right thing and recognise the true value library workers bring to their communities." "But this is no substitution for legislation that guarantees pay equity in full, with provisions for maintaining it. We will keep fighting to reverse the Government's changes." The PSA lodged the library workers' pay equity claim with Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin councils in 2019. Since then, the PSA worked with the councils in good faith to reach a settlement. Library workers were one of the pay equity claims that was close to being settled before being cancelled by last month's amendments to the Equal Pay Act.
Scoop
4 days ago
- Scoop
Canterbury's Regional Council Moving Forward In The Face Of Change
Press Release – Canterbury Regional Council Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) Chair Craig Pauling said the proposed changes to freshwater, primary sector and infrastructure national direction were just the latest example of government reforms impacting the region. The Chair of Canterbury's regional council says the Council is taking every opportunity to advocate for the region, amidst significant reforms and changes being made by central government. Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) Chair Craig Pauling said the proposed changes to freshwater, primary sector and infrastructure national direction were just the latest example of government reforms impacting the region. 'The changes being made by central government will impact on the way local and regional governments operate, and how natural resources are managed under the RMA (Resource Management Act 1991). As Councillors, we want to ensure Canterbury can enjoy the opportunities – and avoid the pitfalls – that these changes may present.' Chair Pauling said while clear national standards support greater regulatory certainty, consistency and improved compliance, there are unique issues in Waitaha Canterbury that justify a more sophisticated, locally informed and evidenced approach. 'Waitaha is unlike any other region in Aotearoa. We have about 70 per cent of the country's groundwater, braided rivers, coastal environments, and highly productive farmland. We also have a unique partnership with Ngāi Tahu as mana whenua. 'We want to make sure that any decisions made by central government value existing land uses, such as food production, and enable new opportunities and resource uses, while safeguarding the region's environmental and cultural health for future generations.' Chair Pauling also referenced Council's recent strategic work. 'We have a set of shared positions that we agree on as a Council, that cover a range of issues impacting the region. The Council's positions relate to managing environmental effects, managing natural resource use, economic prosperity, structure of local, regional and central government, and Treaty Partnership.' 'Our Council is clear about what outcomes we want to achieve for the region. Alongside Te Uru Kahika and our partners, with a view across Te Waipounamu, we welcome the opportunity to inform central government decisions and, together, make these outcomes a reality,' he said. Canterbury Regional Council Deputy Chair Dr Deon Swiggs outlined how the national direction package is one example of Government's work programme that puts increased pressure on regional government and ratepayers. 'Resource management system reforms, Local Government Act amendment, changes to legislation around Te Tiriti partnership and transport funding decisions — these are all changes coming our way from central government. Whether you think they're good or bad, these reforms all impact on elected members' ability to make decisions for our community. 'The current structure and funding of local government across Aotearoa New Zealand is unsustainable and we all agree that change is needed. We look forward to having some crunchy conversations over the coming months, within the Council and with others in the region, to develop a collective vision of what might work best for Waitaha Canterbury,' he said. Deputy Swiggs reaffirmed that the council was united in its position and agreed that change was needed. 'We need greater regulatory clarity and certainty, as well as better alignment between central, regional, and local government. We are taking a strategic approach so that we can be clear, to government and our communities, about what we need and want for Waitaha Canterbury. 'We need to strike an approach that values our community and environment's needs, that allows us to adapt and explore exciting opportunities for the region such as tourism, aerospace, renewable energy, and other emerging innovations,' he said. Chair Pauling and Deputy Swiggs reinforced Canterbury Regional Council's commitment to proactively work with its partners to improve economic and environmental outcomes for the region.
Scoop
4 days ago
- Scoop
Canterbury's Regional Council Moving Forward In The Face Of Change
The Chair of Canterbury's regional council says the Council is taking every opportunity to advocate for the region, amidst significant reforms and changes being made by central government. Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) Chair Craig Pauling said the proposed changes to freshwater, primary sector and infrastructure national direction were just the latest example of government reforms impacting the region. 'The changes being made by central government will impact on the way local and regional governments operate, and how natural resources are managed under the RMA (Resource Management Act 1991). As Councillors, we want to ensure Canterbury can enjoy the opportunities – and avoid the pitfalls – that these changes may present.' Chair Pauling said while clear national standards support greater regulatory certainty, consistency and improved compliance, there are unique issues in Waitaha Canterbury that justify a more sophisticated, locally informed and evidenced approach. 'Waitaha is unlike any other region in Aotearoa. We have about 70 per cent of the country's groundwater, braided rivers, coastal environments, and highly productive farmland. We also have a unique partnership with Ngāi Tahu as mana whenua. 'We want to make sure that any decisions made by central government value existing land uses, such as food production, and enable new opportunities and resource uses, while safeguarding the region's environmental and cultural health for future generations.' Chair Pauling also referenced Council's recent strategic work. 'We have a set of shared positions that we agree on as a Council, that cover a range of issues impacting the region. The Council's positions relate to managing environmental effects, managing natural resource use, economic prosperity, structure of local, regional and central government, and Treaty Partnership.' 'Our Council is clear about what outcomes we want to achieve for the region. Alongside Te Uru Kahika and our partners, with a view across Te Waipounamu, we welcome the opportunity to inform central government decisions and, together, make these outcomes a reality,' he said. Canterbury Regional Council Deputy Chair Dr Deon Swiggs outlined how the national direction package is one example of Government's work programme that puts increased pressure on regional government and ratepayers. 'Resource management system reforms, Local Government Act amendment, changes to legislation around Te Tiriti partnership and transport funding decisions — these are all changes coming our way from central government. Whether you think they're good or bad, these reforms all impact on elected members' ability to make decisions for our community. 'The current structure and funding of local government across Aotearoa New Zealand is unsustainable and we all agree that change is needed. We look forward to having some crunchy conversations over the coming months, within the Council and with others in the region, to develop a collective vision of what might work best for Waitaha Canterbury,' he said. Deputy Swiggs reaffirmed that the council was united in its position and agreed that change was needed. 'We need greater regulatory clarity and certainty, as well as better alignment between central, regional, and local government. We are taking a strategic approach so that we can be clear, to government and our communities, about what we need and want for Waitaha Canterbury. 'We need to strike an approach that values our community and environment's needs, that allows us to adapt and explore exciting opportunities for the region such as tourism, aerospace, renewable energy, and other emerging innovations,' he said. Chair Pauling and Deputy Swiggs reinforced Canterbury Regional Council's commitment to proactively work with its partners to improve economic and environmental outcomes for the region. Environment Canterbury Councillors endorsed a range of public positions relating to central government reform and issues impacting the region at the May 2025 Council meeting.
