Lawyers pile climate pressure on draft transport plan

Lawyers demanding action on climate change claim Auckland Council’s draft transport plan is unlawful because it contradicts the council’s own commitment to reduce emissions.

The Regional Land Transport Plan is designed to encourage a shift away from private cars towards public transport, walking and cycling, and is predicted to increase the number of public transport trips significantly. It is based on a $28 billion 2018 package, but now includes $600 million more for walking and cycling initiatives, and $500m more for buses and ferries.

But the umbrella group All Aboard Aotearoa said the plan would allow for the increase of transport emissions by 2030 as it stood. The group was prepared to contest the matter in court unless the council overhauled it.

Lawyers for Climate Action NZ’s Jenny Cooper, QC, said that while the group had not taken the council to court yet, it was fair that legal action be planned. “We feel it’s very important . . . to be really clear about what the legal obligations of [Auckland Transport] and the council are. So all we’re doing at this stage is calling on them to meet their legal obligations.”

Generation Zero campaigner and lawyer Dewy Sacayan said the plan’s overlying obligation was for emissions to be reduced over the next nine years so “we are to have a fighting chance in keeping global temperatures within 1.5C”. He added: “We definitely need to reduce the number of cars on the road, and we need to increase our investment in public and active transport. On top of that we need to be prioritising the Auckland Cycling Network and we need to be focusing on how we could have proper spatial planning so that where people live is proximate to where they need to go”.

At the package's launch in March, Minister of Transport Michael Wood said the plan would help address the Government's climate responsibilities.