Faking Levin bypass consultation
US President Donald Trump created fake news, now the Transport Agency has invented ‘‘fake consultation’’ in respect to the proposed Levin bypass – or ‘‘Otaki-to-north-of-levin’’ Expressway as the agency calls it.
I am one of a number of landowners who this week received a letter from the agency advising me that my property may be affected by the proposed road. This was a bolt out of the blue to me as I had absolutely no idea my property was being considered as part of the route. I am not alone in this.
Now, the agency is carrying out a ‘‘consultation process’’ on the proposed route by firstly advising potentially affected landowners, but not providing information and maps and turning people away from its pop-up shop in Levin.
I am a journalist and former public relations manager who has run consultation programmes for local authorities and government agencies, including the Ka¯ piti Coast District Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council and the Ministry of Transport. But this latest so-called ‘‘consultation’’ is one of the worst consultations programmes I have seen and nothing but a sham, with affected landowners and the community being given a ‘‘take it or leave it’’ option.
Officials are proposing a route that goes east of Manakau and ends up linking with Arapaepae Rd. While there are possible variations within the proposal, they are no more than tweaks of the overall concept. So why consult? It’s a farce.
Why isn’t there a western route in the options? The community clearly identified it as the preferred option from the 2017 consultation. The agency tells me it doesn’t meet its criteria and it would never build it and so didn’t put it as an option. We are being bullied by a bunch of traffic engineers playing God at our expense.
As an affected landowner, whichever of the current options the agency choses, my lifestyle block in Kuku East Rd will lose its character, serenity and beauty, as the song of the tui and the swish of the woodpigeons in flight will be drowned out by trucks. At worst, like so many others, my sanctuary, my home, office and stand of bush will end up as matchwood in a landfill.
What’s more, I am now faced with having to put my life on hold for at least six months, possibly longer, while the agency goes through its sham of a consultation. This is massively stressful. It’s like a doctor texting you to say you have cancer and then heading off on holiday for six months saying they’ll tell you when they get back whether it is terminal or curable.
In terms of the 2017 consultation, myself and many other now-affected landowners were never made aware of its existence until it was too late. Why couldn’t the agency have done a mail drop in Kuku East or sent all potentially affected landowners in the district a letter? What is even worse is that the agency had a map of potential options, but it did not disclose that during the consultation for people to comment on. But, even more staggering, is that the option now being foisted on the community was determined by just a project team at the agency. Given the sensitive nature, why wasn’t it signed off by the board?
I’d like to know how the eastern bypass will contribute to economic growth in Horowhenua. Covering hundreds of acres of high quality soils that produce fruit and vegetables fand provide dozens of local jobs with tar and cement is hardly a benefit. In my view, Levin is being hoodwinked by the agency, and tacitly supported by Horowhenua District Council, into accepting the variations on a theme of the ‘‘eastern option’’.
The agency board must intervene and stop this fake consultation immediately and start a completely fresh round of genuine consultation, which includes a western option.
As an affected land owner, I feel like many others: shabbily treated and a victim of a dishonest and heartless organisation. Let the people of Horowhenua determine their future, not the bureaucrats of the agency.