The Island Bay Residents Association's legal challenge failed in court so what now for the Island Bay cycleway?
Unless you've been living under a rock you will now be aware that the Island Bay Resident's Association's legal challenge against the Island Bay cycleway failed in the High Court. After two days of oral arguments it took Justice Churchman only two weeks to issue a judgement in Wellington City Council's favour. That's very quick (the judgement was expected to take between three weeks and three months) and indicates that Justice Churchman knew what his decision was pretty much straight away. You can read the full judgement for yourself here and if you donated money to support the judicial review I suggest you do because the application wasn't even close to succeeding.
IBRA's latest update indicates an organisation in deep denial (click on images to expand)
IBRA's reaction to the news was predictably antagonistic and indicates an organisation that has lost touch with reality. According to their latest update "we are all very shocked by the outcome, especially those that were present in Court" which illustrates just how deep in denial they are. In fact, every single point they complain about in the "brief summary of our case" in their update is actually dealt with in Justice Churchman's judgement. You have to wonder if they've even read it.
It's hard to feel any real sympathy for IBRA. They were warned they had no case. Their lawyer was warned. Their supporters were warned. Even while they were shopping around for assistance they were warned they had "zero chance of success" (see below). They went ahead anyway. So what happens now? The two sets of lawyers will currently be in negotiations about costs. If they can't agree it will go back to the High Court to decide. Although it may turn out to be largely symbolic (because IBRA don't have any money) I believe Wellington City Council have a duty to ratepayers to try and recover full costs. It's simply nonsense to suggest that IBRA were innocently drawn into some noble pursuit of "justice" and based on the update above they have not learned their lesson. They are seriously considering whether to appeal which would be throwing good money after bad - money that belongs to ratepayers and IBRA's supporters, who are paying twice over for this farce to continue. Their update claims they are getting an independent legal review of the decision, which I hope is true and which I hope they will listen to.
And what about the cycleway?
It's really important to remember that IBRA's legal challenge wasn't about the current cycleway but the process leading up to the decision taken by the council in September 2017 to upgrade the cycleway. Yes, you read that right - IBRA were challenging the decision to improve the current cycleway, which includes a long list of improvements that they demanded themselves. You can remind yourself of what we've got to look forward to by visiting the council's Transport Projects website and going to The Parade Upgrade.
The only slight snag is that in the meantime The Parade upgrade has been rolled into the Newtown Connections project. Although that means a delay in the timing of the work in Island Bay it's probably a sensible decision overall because treating Island Bay, Berhampore and Newtown as one big project will create economies of scale and be a more effective use of government funding. You can follow the progress of the Newtown Connections project by visiting the council's Transport Projects website and going to Newtown Connections.
Regan
2 Comments
Jo
28/6/2019 11:38:13 pm
Thanks again Regan for your considered thoughts on all things cycleway. Just read the judgement. I think 'Such a submission is misguided' (118) pretty much sums up IBRA's whole case! Also 'No Court is going to direct the Council to go back and consult on options which cannot be implemented because of issues to do with safety or regulatory requirements' (161) is pretty straightforward! Feels pretty clearcut to me (pretty damning in fact), and if they are going to appeal, IBRA need to be clear with donors that there's no realistic chance of success. Agree that on a point of principle the council should seek costs – the association are being litigious, and it's unreasonable that ratepayers will foot the bill (though they probably will end up doing so, IBRA need to move on and not chew up even more council time and money).
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SC
29/6/2019 03:13:44 pm
I think the IBRA were mislead to expect that consultation should result in the option preferred by the majority. But that's not how it works. The first problem is a majority of whom. The majority of submissions favoured kerbside bur the majority of Island May residents (or Parade dwellers) favoured road-side. Following IBRA's view Berhampore residents should have a veto on any roading changes through their suburb. Clearly IB residents also have an interest and valid concerns that should be listened to as part of any consultation. On a positive note I heard that the IBRA has decided to work with the Council on the proposed redesign of the kerbside solution.
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