Submitter
Submission id number: 964887
Submitter name:
Timothy McMullen
Organisation
Do you want to speak to Councillors at the hearings?
Yes
Supporting information
No associated documents with this submission.
Submission
How are we doing? Is there anything you would like to tell us?
I’d like to write about a whole range of things, but I especially want to focus on keeping making our city more accessible, whether for people in cars or buses, on foot, bikes, or scooters. I've been very pleased with progress on the upgrades to George Street and the adjacent streets, both in terms of the services upgrades and the improved look of the street upon completion. I'm among a large group of people who have been advocating for the street improvements for well over a decade, and I am very glad to see it coming to fruition. While I would have welcomed a more complete closure of the street, what we have is a decent compromise.
The advantage of a complete closure is that it would reduce the light cycles that hold up traffic on St. Andrew St., Hanover St., etc. When I say “complete closure”, I’m only thinking to through traffic, not to people needing mobility parks, deliveries, buses or bikes. Reducing through traffic, though, would mean lights for George Street would only go green when traffic was present to trigger the light. Otherwise, the only light cycles would be for pedestrians (when requested) and for the cross streets. Still, as it is, it is a vast improvement, and I definitely want to see the project completed as designed.
I’m very pleased to hear that it is also well ahead of schedule. I’m grateful to the construction company as the disruptions have been understandably difficult on businesses and people trying to access the downtown area. Still, a little short-term pain will clearly yield some excellent long term gain.
Speaking of long term gain, the improved cycle infrastructure over more than a decade now has also paid enormous dividends. From 2009-20012 we had five cyclists die on Dunedin streets. Since 2013 I make it zero deaths on our streets. That’s undoubtedly a result of the huge improvements to our cycle infrastructure. It’s hard to put a price on a human life, but if we do the maths that’s probably more than a dozen lives saved at a time when far more people NEED to bike in order to mitigate the increased cost of living. It’s possible it has saved even more lives. Luckily, we have not had to find out the hard way.
The bus hub seems to be doing its job nicely and, anecdotally, I see ever increasing numbers of people taking buses in town. While I occasionally see a driver failing to indicate or not getting it right with cyclist interactions, mostly I am very pleased at how expertly and diligently bus drivers navigate the urban environment. I very frequently see them manoeuvring with great care and respect for other road users.
I also want to give a shout out to the parking wardens. It’s not a job many people are grateful to see done, but they do their important work with courtesy and respect for both drivers and the law.
I am grateful to all who have worked to raise our voices in protest of the cuts to the hospital. Please keep moving that work forward.
What other ideas should we be thinking about to include in future plans for our city?
In future, I welcome continued improvements to cycling infrastructure, pedestrian access and mobility parking, and if that includes closing George Street off to regular vehicle traffic just passing through, all the better. Increasing car parks should in no way be a priority. It is time to build a city and transport infrastructure that allows people to leave their cars at home if they can.
In the face of the rapidly intensifying climate crisis, public transport should be free. Full stop. I am happy for my rates to increase to subsidise public transport, and I welcome whatever changes are necessary to make regular passenger rail service a reality.
I invite the mayor and councillors to support the Plant-based Treaty as a gesture of their sincere desire to try and create a world that future generations will find better than what we now face. Vegan and vegetarian diets alone will not save us. Free public transport will not save us. But we’ve tried doing not a lot, and it doesn’t seem to be working.
We need to declare a climate emergency and plan for some realistic worst case scenarios. Given recent catastrophic flood events in Auckland, Tairawhiti, Marlborough, Greymouth (twice), Ashburton, South Dunedin and many, many more, we need to consider the possibility and outcome of a weather bomb dropping half a metre of rain on the Waters of Leith, Silverstream or Taieri watersheds, possibly all three at once. These are no longer hypothetical threats. They’re real. They’re here. Now.
We need to make realistic assessments of where we allow houses and critical infrastructure to be built, and stop all building in vulnerable areas. We also need strategic plans on how to deal with some of the worst case scenarios we are now facing.