Councillor leads pedal-power protest
Nelson City Councillor Matt Lawrey is continuing his efforts to put wheels in motion for a walkway-cycleway along Nelson’s waterfront.
The councillor and former Green Party candidate spearheaded a protest ride along Rocks Rd on Thursday night, ‘‘demanding’’ the New Zealand Transport Authority and Nelson City Council build the pedestrian boulevard.
He said part of his role as a councillor was to put ideas out for community members to ‘‘ chew over’’ and decide what they thought.
‘‘It’s not just about sitting in a chamber and voting ‘ay’ or ‘nay’ to things that other people have proposed,’’ he said.
About 90 people had joined the Green Party-organised ride, which went from Nelson’s Millers Acre to the Sprig & Fern in Tahunanui, calling for a safer cycleway.
Lawrey said he’d been delighted at the turnout, given the minimal publicity for the protest, and the diversity of participants who hadn’t just been ‘‘the usual suspects’’.
‘‘I saw a lot of people there who I wouldn’t necessarily have expected to come along.’’
He said some in attendance he’d understood to be historically ‘‘pro Southern Link’’, and not necessarily Greens’ supporters.
‘‘There was a very wide range of Nelsonians there from all walks of life who wouldn’t normally take part in a protest.’’
He said while it was a protest, it had been protest for something, not against – clarifying it hadn’t been an anti-Southern Link event.
‘‘It was about saying Nelson has got this fantastic waterfront, but it’s actually uninviting and, in parts, dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists,’’ he said.
‘‘This was about saying we’re for the walkway-cycleway that has long been discussed but we really think the time for talking about it is over.’’
He was grateful to motorists who had been courteous and patient during the protest.
As to what his fellow councillors might think about his unapologetic stance on the longrunning debate about the future of Nelson’s waterfront, Lawrey said he hadn’t had anyone take issue with the event.
‘‘I’ve actually been struck by the number of councillors who have campaigned as being proSouthern Link, who have been saying to me quietly that this Government isn’t likely to build the Southern Link and we need to get on with the waterfront.’’