Minutes of Meeting held 28 May 2007
Wellington City Council
Present: Kim Keene, Dave Fowler, Mike Mellor, Lily Linton, Brent Efford, Robert Davies, Liz Thomas, Celia Wade-Brown, Debs Moir
Apologies: Alexia Pickering, Iona Pannett, Jenny Clark
1. Guest Speaker: Genevieve Drake
- Discussed Wellington City Council offroad bike policy. The policy was first developed in 1998 and is currently under review.
- Most tracks are shared between walkers, runners and mountain bikers
- Some tracks are closed to mountain bikers for various reasons eg. By the zoo
- There are potential issues with walkers who don’t have good hearing and get frightened when a mountain biker goes past
- Mountain bikers’ guidelines suggest that they should warn people that they are behind them
- There needs to be a two-way relationship between walkers/runners and cyclists – this is a key issue to get through to everyone (there is a perceived fear by most walkers of the ‘danger’ of mountain bikers)
- There has been more thinking around track design recently – how to manage speed etc.
- A Code of Practice will be distributed for mountain bikers to bike shops along with maps etc as part of education
- The WalkIT website has photos of Cairns’ shared waterfront (ie. Cyclists and walkers/runners)
- The previous offroad bike policy didn’t go into what should and shouldn’t be considered for a mountain bike track
- It’s hard to determine actual numbers of mountain bikers
- Signage needs to be improved
- A new mountain bike map has been released as an interim measure to highlight the new tracks
2. Minutes of last meeting
- These were all sent in by Debs Moir – thanks to all who contributed
- Mike spoke to Porirua City Council and is to speak to Upper Hutt and Wellington in the following weeks
- Paula Warren’s report and link to go on the website
3. Walking Advocates Day
Lily reported back on this:
- Media workshop was good and discussed using the issues in the media at the current time to then spin into a pro-pedestrian issue
- With regard to funding the key message was learn how the systems work
4. Media
- Iona can’t do the media work so we need a replacement, particularly as media was identified as being important to increase the profile of Living Streets Wellington
- Potential media report regarding Ruahine Street (Mt. Vic tunnel to Wellington Road 70km zone). Consultation involved no-one with interests outside of driving.
- The new Supreme Building development is looking to remove the bus shelter outside Justice Park. This would mean a long walk between the railway station/bus interchange and the next bus shelter especially as some buses (eg. Karori) use Bowen Street. A letter to Wellington City Council to be submitted
Actions:
To find a replacement for Iona
Mike to send a report regarding Ruahine Street to Debs to send to the media
Mike to submit a letter to Wellington City Council regarding the bus shelter
- Criteria to set out a hierarchy
- Living Streets Wellington to support accessible carparks
- Would be good to source reference to studies that show the pedestrian shoppers vs. those who purchase after driving to the shop
- On Lambton Quay the number of pedestrians is much more significant than the number of people who can park there and shop
- Parking on footpaths needs to be highlighted as not an alternative
- A presentation to Parkwise staff from Living Streets Wellington would be useful regarding this issue and also finding out what the operation manuals indicate parking wardens should ticket for
Actions:
Kim Keene to collate information for a submission regarding the Parking Policy (email kimandmart at paradise.net.nz)
Debs to write a letter to Parkwise
6. Infill Housing Policy (Wellington City Council)
- It discusses urban design, liveable cities, good public transport and discouraging sub-divisions
- It needs to consider off street parking as well as otherwise more cars per structure will mean more cars on the road
Action: Brent Efford to make a submission on behalf of Living Streets Wellington
7. Johnsonville Town Centre
- Need to put a submission in.
- Should also include information gained from the community street review
Action: Kim Keene to collate information and submit
8. Next Meeting 25th June
- Look at drafts of the submissions
Meeting closed at 7.25pm