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This version of the blog has been formatted to make it easier to view on a mobile device. Cycle Aware Wellington recently published an excellent blog in which Wellington City mayoral and council candidates were asked a range of questions exploring their views on cycling. You should definitely read their responses but I wanted to get a clearer picture of who the more 'bike-friendly' candidates are overall and how they compare to each other. To do this I invited a panel of Wellington cyclists to rate the quality of every candidates answer to every question on a 5 point scale. The higher the score the better, with a maximum possible average score for each question, and in total, of 5 out of 5. In determining the overall quality of the answer the panel were asked to focus on the degree to which the answer demonstrates: a) general support for cycling, and/or b) an empathy for cycling and cyclists, and/or c) an understanding of cycling related issues, and/or d) a willingness to make hard decisions in order to promote cycling and/or grow cycling numbers Here's the results but please make sure you also read the notes below: Overall results for mayoral candidates and council candidates by ward Here are the overall scores for each mayoral candidate and each council candidate by ward.       Results by question for all mayoral and council candidates Here are the scores for every mayoral and council candidate by question.            Overall question scores This chart shows the overall score by question. It gives a sense of which questions the panel thought candidates collectively answered well and not so well (scores are out of 5).  Notes
Thanks to Cycle Aware Wellington for running the questionnaire in the first place. Thanks also to the panel of cyclists who completed the survey. This involved rating over 300 individual answers each, a tremendous effort! Finally, apologies. Only a lack of time prevents me from running the same exercise for the regional councillors' responses. Regan
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If you have any difficulties viewing this blog on a mobile device try the mobile-friendly version. Cycle Aware Wellington recently published an excellent blog in which Wellington City mayoral and council candidates were asked a range of questions exploring their views on cycling. You should definitely read their responses but I wanted to get a clearer picture of who the more 'bike-friendly' candidates are overall and how they compare to each other. To do this I invited a panel of Wellington cyclists to rate the quality of every candidates answer to every question on a 5 point scale. The higher the score the better, with a maximum possible average score for each question, and in total, of 5 out of 5. In determining the overall quality of the answer the panel were asked to focus on the degree to which the answer demonstrates: a) general support for cycling, and/or b) an empathy for cycling and cyclists, and/or c) an understanding of cycling related issues, and/or d) a willingness to make hard decisions in order to promote cycling and/or grow cycling numbers Here's the results but please make sure you also read the notes below: Overall results for mayoral candidates and council candidates by ward This slideshow shows the overall score for each mayoral candidate and each council candidate by ward. Hover over the slideshow to use the controls. Results by question for all mayoral and council candidates This gallery shows the score for every mayoral and council candidate by question. Click on the image to enlarge. Overall question scores This chart shows the overall score by question. It gives a sense of which questions the panel thought candidates collectively answered well and not so well (scores are out of 5).  Notes
Thanks to Cycle Aware Wellington for running the questionnaire in the first place. Thanks also to the panel of cyclists who completed the survey. This involved rating over 300 individual answers each, a tremendous effort! Finally, apologies. Only a lack of time prevents me from running the same exercise for the regional councillors' responses. Regan As we get closer to the local body elections there's a range of questionnaires being published that explore the candidates' views. At least a couple of the questionnaires have asked the candidates specific questions about the Island Bay cycleway. Cycle Aware Wellington, asked all council candidates (including mayoral candidates): "What is your preferred solution for the Island Bay cycleway?" Wellington Scoop (in association with Transporting Wellington blog) asked the mayoral candidates: "What do you believe should be done with the Island Bay Cycleway? Why?" Here's the candidates' answers all in one place, followed by a little bit of commentary. Mayoral candidates Jo Coughlan, Mayoral candidate What is your preferred solution for the Island Bay cycleway? As a Council, we rushed at the Island Bay cycleway, and the result was a pretty unhappy community which is partly why I voted against it. I’m not going to pre-judge this one – we agreed unanimously to go back to the community and find out what the people in Island Bay really want, and we need to stick with that process. I’ve had people express strong views both for and against the cycleway while I’ve been out campaigning, and it’s unfortunate that what should have been a relatively straightforward piece of infrastructure has divided the community. We need to be practical and pragmatic about solutions. As Mayor, a priority will be to make sure we put the right cycleways in the right place, get as much investment from central government as we can and do it with input from the community. What do you believe should happen with the Island Bay Cycleway? As a Council, we rushed at the Island Bay cycleway, and the result was a pretty unhappy community which is partly why I voted against it. I’m not going to pre-judge this one – we agreed unanimously to go back to the community and find out what the people in Island Bay really want, and we need to stick with that process. I’ve had people express strong views both for and against the cycleway while I’ve been out campaigning, and it’s unfortunate that what should have been a relatively straightforward piece of infrastructure has divided the community. Andy Foster, Mayoral and Onslow-Western Ward candidate What is your preferred solution for the Island Bay cycleway? I am happy to let there be a community discussion about this – bearing in mind that the ‘community’ includes all points of view – people on bikes very much included. I think we start from the outcomes we want to achieve on that corridor. That clearly needs to include provision for safe cycling for all ages. What do you believe should happen with the Island Bay Cycleway? When we put the Island Bay cycleway in place, and even before the controversy broke out, because this was a new style of cycleway to Wellington and New Zealand – we said that we would undertake a safety audit post construction and act on the safety audit recommendations – which we have done. We also said we would review the project in a year’s time, which we are going to do. I am a great fan of long term community planning exercises – indeed that is one of my campaign promises – and it’s great that the review of the Island Bay cycleway will be done in a wider community planning framework. The final thing to note is that post Island Bay we completely changed the engagement approach. In the Eastern Suburbs we started with a community consultative committee involving schools, residents’ associations, business improvement districts, the AA, Cycle Aware, Living Streets, NZTA and Greater Wellington. We also started further back in the process – identifying which destinations people wanted to get to, which of these corridors were the priorities, and we will now go on to engagement on specific route design. That gave the public opportunity to identify the things they most wanted us to focus on. That has come through into the refreshed cycleway programme agreed by councillors last week. Keith Johnson, Mayoral candidate What is your preferred solution for the Island Bay cycleway? I am happy to let the re-design process take its course and keen that we should learn from design errors and failures in stakeholder relationships. What do you believe should be done with the Island Bay Cycleway? I understand that provision is being made for a comprehensive re-assessment of the design and the approach taken to community participation. I support this initiative. Nick Leggett, Mayoral candidate What is your preferred solution for the Island Bay cycleway? Listen to community and cycling groups recommendations about change and then council act upon them. What do you believe should happen with the Island Bay Cycleway? Why? I’ve said that I would act upon compromise recommendations from the local community and cycling groups. Politicians caused the problems around this decision by ignoring officer advice and NZTA partnership funding priorities; I don’t believe we are the experts in solving those problems. Justin Lester, Mayoral candidate What is your preferred solution for the Island Bay cycleway? I want a safe cycleway that Island Bay residents and cycle way users are proud of. There are a range of different design options that could work. The community is currently working through options in conjunction with cyclists. Getting the consultation is important and the advice from those involved will help guide my decision. We have successful cycle ways in Tawa, Khandallah’s Bridle Path, a shared path in Johnsonville serving schools, the Leonie Gill cycle way and we’ll soon commence improvements on the Hutt Road and Eastern suburbs harbour-side cycleway, Each is different and shows varying designs and approaches can be used successfully. What do you believe should be done with the Island Bay Cycleway? Why? I think improvements can be made to the design to get a win-win situation. I’ve been working with residents and cyclists to get them to work together, supported by WCC, to achieve that. Johnny Overton, Mayoral candidate What is your preferred solution for the Island Bay cycleway? Return it to how it was before the madness began. What do you believe should happen with the Island Bay Cycleway? It should be returned to how it was before. Helene Ritchie, Mayoral candidate What is your preferred solution for the Island Bay cycleway? I want the community to decide. I have a proposal to put to them at the appropriate time which would enhance the Parade, be safe for children, adults and commuters, straight and not tangle with driveways. What do you believe should happen with the Island Bay Cycleway? I have an interesting proposal which I would like to discuss with the community and relevant persons at an appropriate time. It is one which could enhance the Parade, have safe cycling, and remove the driveway/carparking/children, car-bus-trucks conflicts and danger that exist at present. I would like to leave it to the community, (where it sits at present) to come to some agreement. Nicola Young, Mayoral and Lambton ward candidate What is your preferred solution for the Island Bay cycleway? I fought this from the start, as I am sure you are aware (!), so won’t re-litigate my reasons. It was foisted upon people; the political process was scandalous (the amendment that over-rode the cycling masterplan); the consultation was poor/erratic; the design a disgrace… Council must listen to what locals want; most seem to want it restored to its former state; if that’s correct, then we should do it. In future we should trial cycling routes, using – for example – armadillos to delineate the cycling lane (I have been suggesting this for the past three years). The Island Bay cycleway has done enormous damage to the cycling cause in Wellington. What do you believe should be done with the Island Bay Cycleway? Why? We must listen to the local community; they have done the most thorough consultation (to date) and that’s shown that the community doesn’t want it, and want to have it ‘painted back’. We need to restore the IBCW as closely to the original as possible. The Council also needs to work with the GWRC, and get the bus stops restored to their former places. What the cycleway looks like now Council candidates All council candidates were asked "What is your preferred solution for the Island Bay cycleway?" Chris Calvi-Freeman, Eastern Ward That’s a difficult one. I think it was well-intentioned but ill-advised as the carriageway width is just slightly too narrow for what was implemented. I don’t believe it’s seriously deficient as a design, but it falls short of best-practice. My main concern is that if faster cyclists prefer to stay on the main carriageway they can be abused by drivers. I believe the council should have taken a more in-depth look at the parking demand – much of it probably comes from commuters, not locals, so displacing some of this parking would not necessarily have been problematic. The solution might be to remove parking from one side of the road and spread everything else out, although I appreciate this would be expensive and untidy and could further inflame local tensions. The main lesson to learn is to undertake more in-depth planning and consultation before embarking on such projects. Sarah Free, Eastern Ward First, I’d like to see some adjustments made to the existing design to reduce the cycleway width slightly on both sides and make the width consistent for the whole length, which would allow more space in the carriageway for vehicle traffic and buses. Also cats-eyes or some other treatment on the edge of the cycleway so people don’t park over the lines. But if the community comes up with an alternative idea that has widespread buy-in I’d be happy to support it. Rob Goulden, Eastern Ward I disagreed with that design in the first place and believe it is dangerous. I prefer the lanes to be on the outside of cars so they can see you and you can see them. Better for driver education. They can still be well marked and differentiated. Lynda McGregor, Eastern Ward Return Island Bay roads to their original state. Re-establish trust and confidence in WCC and work across the city with the different wards to establish their individual transport strategies. I want to see a master plan for transport solutions based on ward needs. WCC should be providing the high level vision, making those connections. This is a cross agency initiative Robert Murray, Eastern Ward Revert to previous. Brian Dawson, Lambton Ward I believe the current work underway will see satisfactory resolution. Dave Gee, Lambton Ward I’ll leave that to the people of Island Bay. However I believe that the design should never have been accepted. Milton Hollard, Lambton Ward I have no “preferred“ solution for the Island Bay cycleway but I think it quite likely there will still be one and thinking will revert to adopting the hitherto usual pattern, i.e. cycleway directly to the left of the vehicular carriageway. I gather that the pattern followed in Island Bay is based on the Copenhagen model. Interestingly, on a website that model has been criticised by one David Hembrow, particularly the “left turn junction” ; he says the Netherlands model remains superior (the implication being that the “faddish” Danish approach has not worked elsewhere, in Southampton for instance, and has had to be adjusted). I must say I have driven along The Parade and not found it all that easy to negotiate. I see that Cycle Aware Wellington and the Island Bay Residents Association have recently jointly set up a pop-up shop on The Parade to explore options and this is to be welcomed. New Council chief planner David Chick seems motivated to facilitate a solution. Tony Jansen, Lambton Ward I’d almost be prepared to say start again but I guess we are too far down the track for that. I have seen this design in New York but on roads twice or more as wide. The green paint is hideous and confusing, the cycleway is too narrow and there is no kerb or boundary to stop vehicles from intruding into the cycleway area. In short it’s a bit of a dogs breakfast. Troy Mihaka, Lambton Ward The design of the Island Bay Cycleway was an attempt at something innovative, which eventuated as a bureaucratic nightmare. When addressing the issue, the practicality of the design needs to be considered. In my opinion the whole thing needs to return to the planning stage and be redeveloped, with a higher level of community involvement and participation. Iona Pannett, Lambton Ward I think it should be retained but that we need to work with the community to make improvements where necessary to make it safer. As part of this work, my hope is that we can also look at how we can also improve the urban environment in Island Bay even more. Mazz Scannell, Lambton Ward Something that works for everyone. Jill Day, Northern Ward To maintain an open consultation process that works to resolve the issues. This needs to be a priority for Wellington City Council, so that other cycle projects can progress. Peter Gilberd, Northern Ward This has to be settled by constructive discussion between the interested parties. Judith Gray, Northern Ward Redesign to an appropriate cycleway that takes into account respect and consideration for ALL roadusers – cars, pedestrians, cyclists, buses etc.and also allows for parking. Listen to the local residents. I grew up on The Parade in Island Bay. It was a wide, safe, carriageway for all users. Now it appears to be a narrow road with severe safety concerns. Malcolm Sparrow, Northern Ward Have to work with a broad cross-section of people to come up with the right answer to this one! Diane Calvert, Onslow-Western Ward Given the sensitive issues in Island Bay – I understand that IBRA and the community of Island Bay, together with WCC, are working through a process involving submissions and workshops to ensure that the community and all road users “have their say”. The outcome of this process should come up with a preferred solution that best works for all. Ray Chung, Onslow-Western Ward Anything but what they have now! Matthew Plummer, Onslow-Western Ward Restoration to how it was. As a cyclist riding inside the cars feels more dangerous to me – I’ve narrowly avoided being ‘doored’ twice, and I’ve had kids run out in front of me. IBCW is an inappropriate design for the environment – how does a three-wheel Christiana cargo bike negotiate the bus stop bypasses (and their unfriendly cambers) without tipping over? The previous layout was fine. Council should have focused on getting a slip lane for cyclists from Adelaide Road to Tory St – that would have been a far more significant improvement. The design process and cloth-ear to the community’s wishes has done enormous damage to cycling in our city. Simon Woolf, Onslow-Western Ward Continuing the good faith engagement with all parties contributing to solutions in a non-confrontational, and non-adversarial fashion is essential in moving forward. The solution would be an option, which would require a big improvement from what existed pre the contentious existing cycleway. It needs some give and take, to ensure the current situation, where there is still some distrust, moves forward, and does not get worse. Brendon Bonner, Southern Ward I would prefer to see the restoration of the Island Bay Parade. I believe the community supports this – we shall see. This restoration can include roadside cycle lanes. They can be improved from the pre-cycleway roadside lanes. They might have a rumble strip or rubber dividers or raised border to separate moving traffic and cyclists. A dooring zone would also be an obvious addition. I was expecting to see these options on the table during the original cycleway proposal process. These changes could be included as part of the 10 year plan for Island Bay which would look at using the whole width of the road (fence to fence) and provide sufficient demarcated space for walking, cycling, public transport and private vehicles. With this improvement to the southern corridor, cycling numbers might rise over time to then provide a stronger justification for cycling facilities. Paul Eagle, Southern Ward A community-led process is currently underway and my preferred solution will be guided by the outcome of this. It’s critical that the next council listen to the people of Island Bay when the solution is presented for approval. David Lee, Southern Ward A two-way carriageway on the western side of The Parade, and a shared path on the eastern side. Don McDonald, Southern Ward Monitor usage and grow. Level fifty pct. Encourage. There was a set back. The fault is too many cars and petrol and flites. Brent Pierson, Southern Ward Remove one side or put down the middle. What the "bike lanes" used to look like
Commentary It's not surprising that most of the mayoral and council candidates play these questions with a fairly straight bat. The Love the Bay project, which is designed to re-engage with the community, is already underway so the majority of candidates are happy to provide an answer that is essentially "listen to the community". That's seems sensible, especially as the Love the Bay project workshops carry on until November and it is the new council that will have to determine how well the project's objectives have been met and what to do with the outcomes. What is surprising is that a significant minority of candidates felt inclined to give an answer that expressed a more decisive view than that. Mayoral candidate Johnny Overton, and council candidates Rob Goulden (Eastern), Lynda McGregor (Eastern), Robert Murray (Eastern), and Matthew Plummer (Onslow-Western) all want The Parade restored to the way it was. Ray Chung (Onslow-Western) said "anything but what they have now!" Mayoral candidate Nicola Young (who is also a candidate for Lambton) and council candidate Brendon Bonner (Southern) both said listen to the community but then offered fairly strong personal opinions indicating that they already know what the community thinks and it should be put back the way it was. David Gee (Lambton) said listen to the community but that "the design should never have been accepted". Council candidates Chris Calvi-Freeman (Eastern), Sarah Free (Eastern) and Iona Pannett (Lambton) all expressed the view that the cycleway should be retained but tweaked to make it better. Although all three acknowledged that community input into this was important. Council candidates David Lee (Southern) and Brent Pierson (Southern) both suggested reasonably significant changes. David suggested "a two-way carriageway on the western side of The Parade, and a shared path on the eastern side" and Brent suggested "remove one side or put down the middle". And to be perfectly honest I don't really understand what solutions Tony Jansen (Lambton) and Don McDonald (Southern) are proposing. They are welcome to clarify in the comments. Regan. The community re-engagement process set up as part of the refreshed Wellington urban cycleways programme now has a new name, logo and website.  Love the Bay is a collaborative project to co-design the future of Island Bay. You can visit the new website here: www.lovethebay.nz. Here's more about the project from the Love the Bay team: "We've launched a website at lovethebay.nz, where you can stay updated on the project, give feedback, and see upcoming events, like a Meet & Greet with City Planner David Chick on 8 September. Please check it out and share it with your friends and neighbours!
What would make Island Bay even better? Join the conversation and co-design a plan for the future of our community. We will be hosting a series of workshops to develop a plan for Island Bay. Each workshop will be held twice, so you only need to attend one of each session. All workshops will be held at Island Bay Baptist Church, 284 The Parade. Workshop 1: What is Island Bay? Who is Island Bay? Sunday September 18 - BBQ 1-1.30, session 1.30-3.30pm Wednesday 21 September 20 - session 7.30-9.30pm Workshop 2: Starting to envision the future Sunday October 2 - BBQ 1-1.30, session 1.30-3.30pm Wednesday October 4 - session 7.30-9.30pm Extra activity: Simulated urban design - a game!Wednesday October 12 - session 7.30-9.30pm Workshop 3: Developing the plan Sunday October 16 - BBQ 1-1.30, session 1.30-3.30pm Wednesday October 19 - session 7.30-9.30pm Workshop 4: Continued planning Sunday October 30 - BBQ 1-1.30, session 1.30-3.30 Wednesday November 2 - session 7.30-9.30pm We hope to see you at the workshops soon! In the meantime, feel free to drop in to the shop for a visit, or contact us on the website. We're still looking for volunteers to help out at the drop in shop on evenings and weekends, so please get in touch if you're available. " |
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