New riverside bus hub is just the ticket for city
Bus users in Nelson are in for an upgraded public transport experience with a new bus hub given the green light by the city council on Tuesday.
Councillors voted 9 to 3 to proceed with the hub, which will host the new electric fleet of buses. Construction of the hub is expected to be in the next financial year.
The location of the hub had proven contentious with business owners. State Cinema director Mark Christensen was worried the loss of carparks in Miller’s Acre ‘‘could be the straw that broke the camel’s back’’.
But conversations councillors Mel Courtney, Rohan O’NeillStevens, council manager of transport and solid waste Marg Parfitt, and deputy mayor Judene Edgar had with businesses helped to smooth the pathway.
‘‘We answered a lot of their concerns, but the best thing that came out of it was the fact that we are going to work together with them,’’ Courtney said. ‘‘They were put at ease.’’
Things like improved ‘‘wayfinding’’ from Wakatu Square, improved signage and lighting through the alleyway and across the raised crossing, would help mitigate the loss of carparks for businesses, Parfitt said.
They could also take out advertising promoting the use of alternatives to private use vehicles to the theatre, such as putting up slides before the movies advertising parking at Wakatu Square, and running a campaign so gold cardholders could ride for free on the bus and get a senior discount at the movies, for instance.
Edgar pointed out that council data showed that 72% of those who parked in Millers Acre did so for less than an hour, which suggested that that might not be the carpark of choice for those heading to the State Cinema.
Nelson mayor Rachel Reese said she had advocated for funding for a bus hub in 2016, and was successful at getting some from the National Land Transport Fund, and she urged those present to ‘‘keep the project alive’’.
‘‘If we are going to make some progress on emission reduction, [and] modal shift, then as communities and as systems of government . . . we are going to have to work faster ... Please, please don’t wait another seven years to get this thing constructed . . . we just don’t have time. We’ve got to make these changes, it’s so important.’’
Group manager of infrastructure Alec Louverdis said staff were firmly of the view that the bus hub was in the right location.
‘‘It’s not a shadow of the potential spend at the library,’’ he said. ‘‘What we do will be fit-for-purpose for the foreseeable future.’’
Councillor Trudie Brand said while she thought the hub was a ‘‘fantastic idea’’, she voted against it for reasons related to the timing of engagement.
‘‘I feel this is a ‘do to’ our community, and not ‘work with’.’’
Councillor Brian McGurk rejected the claims that this had been foisted upon the community. and ‘‘We hard have for talked many, about many this years. long For anyone to say this is a surprise to them, they must have been out of town . . . This is actually a critical step in turning strategies into action. We can talk and talk and talk but we’ve actually got to do something, and this is what we are doing. We’re doing something.’’
Edgar said staff did engage with businesses three or four months ago, but what was likely missed was the ‘‘feedback loop’’, during which the council relayed how the concerns of businesses were taken on board.
However, ‘‘that timing of what would have been the feedback loop coincided with the atmospheric rain event that we had . . . staff were immensely under pressure. ¯We Te A were able to express to the businesses that we met on Friday that we are sorry that that feedback loop didn’t happen.’’
Edgar said there were opportunities for businesses, and that modal shift and business weren’t polar opposites to each other.
‘‘Yes, change is hard,’’ she said, ‘‘but not changing is going to be even harder’’.
Councillors Tim Skinner, Brand and Yvonne Bowater voted against the hub.