Budget, cost/benefit analysis, and consultations on Knights Road cycleway
Rhiannon McKinstry made this Official Information request to Hutt City Council
The request was partially successful.
From: Rhiannon McKinstry
Dear Hutt City Council,
On March 3, 2015 Rod Babcock submitted an information request for the following information:
“You have recently commissioned GHD consultants to carry out roading designs for cycleways in Hutt City, in particular for Knights Road and Waterloo Road 'protected' cycleways, and Cambridge Terrace. This was in response to the cycling subcommittee request.
Please could you provide the following information:
1. The detailed brief given to GHD consultants under which they were engaged.
2. The formal scope given to GHD consultants.
3. The cost to Hutt City Council for the designs produced by GHD consultants.
4. Have GHD consultants been engaged to carry out further review, or safety evaluations, and at what cost.”
This information request was subsequently withdrawn, after “discussions and meetings [of Rod Babcock] with Ron Muir, Lyle Earle and Jan Simmons”.
Sadly, this resolution does not give the rest of us this information.
Also, on September 15 2020, Michael Brown asked for information on “Hutt City Council planning around cycleways, in particular strategic planning for commuter routes around Lower Hutt”, “current HCC planning and strategy documents, such as they exist, around development or improvement of the commuter cycleway infrastructure in the Hutt Valley”. He was sent on the 19th November a draft document “Hutt City Cycling and Micromobility SSBC draft issued for Waka Kotahi fe….pdf” which contains mention of Knights Road cycleway, with an indicative level of investment of a single dollar sign for the trial and three dollar signs (the maximum indication) for the formalising of the Knights Road cycleway. This document does not answer any of the below questions.
_______________________________________________________________
As of 14 February 2021, a two lane cycleway is being trialled along part of Knights Road. We received a letter in early February, dated 27 January, telling us of this foregone conclusion. We were not offered opportunities to consult on this process and there are some glaring problems with the design of the cycleway, namely the removal of all but three car parks on the south side of the road, which is the side of the road with six small businesses on.
Here is our Official Information Act request:
1) The total estimated cost of the project, with a detailed breakdown into the different stages.
2) The cost/benefit analysis of the cycleway.
3) Who was consulted and when about this project (Auaha Evolving Spaces says “Yes residents were given opportunities to participate and many shared what was important to them in the design process” but when was this exactly? How many Knights Road residents participated? How many businesses on Knights Road participated? How many cyclists participated?)
Yours faithfully,
Rhiannon McKinstry
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Hutt City Council
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From: Information Management Team
Hutt City Council
18/02/2021
Rhiannon McKinstry
[1][FYI request #14703 email]
Dear Rhiannon McKinstry,
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION - LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL INFORMATION AND
MEETINGS ACT 1987: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF REQUEST
I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your official information request
dated 17 February 2021 for information regarding Budget, cost/benefit
analysis, and consultations on Knights Road cycleway.
We received your request on 18 February 2021. We will endeavour to respond
to your request as soon as possible and in any event no later than 20
working days after the day your request was received. If we are unable to
respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of
that timeframe.
If any additional factors come to light which are relevant to your
request, please do not hesitate to contact us so that these can be taken
into account.
Yours sincerely,
Euan Kyle
Senior Advisor, Official Information and Privacy
Hutt City Council, 30 Laings Road, Private Bag 31912, Lower Hutt 5040, New
Zealand
T 04 570 6702 W [2]www.huttcity.govt.nz
From: Contact
Sent: Thursday, 18 February 2021 7:12 AM
To: Information Management Team
Subject: FW: Official Information request - Budget, cost/benefit analysis,
and consultations on Knights Road cycleway [#598B0A]
show quoted sections
From: Information Management Team
Hutt City Council
08/03/2021
Rhiannon McKinstry
[1][FOI #14703 email]
Dear Rhiannon McKinstry,
Request for Information – Local Government Official Information and
Meetings Act 1987
We refer to your official information request dated 17 February 2021 for
information regarding Budget, cost/benefit analysis, and consultations on
Knights Road cycleway.
Please find our response below.
1) Overall costings for this project to date are
$138,659. The total available funding for this project, which is limited
to temporary trials along Knights Rd with the aim of trialling solutions
to create a safe connection on this key route, is $558,325. 90% of the
funding comes from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency with 10% coming from
the existing Hutt City Council transport budget. This project is part of a
national initiative and fund called Innovating Streets for People. Waka
Kotahi are investing in these types of projects all across New Zealand and
so if they weren’t funding this project in Lower Hutt they would be
funding something similar in another place. We cannot provide a detailed
breakdown of the costs by stage as the collaborative design process being
used with the community is iterative which means the final outcome is
unknown at this stage.
2) Because the designs are temporary and adaptive a
cost-benefit analysis specific to this trial layout isn’t possible or
practical. The nature and content of the feedback will help determine
what happens next, and we cannot pre-empt this. Be reassured that this
project and the associated funding does align with the Government’s Policy
Statement for transport mode shift and its commitments to responding to
climate change. It also contributes to Hutt City Council’s goals towards
providing safe connections to active and public transport and the climate
emergency that it declared in 2020.
3) To date we’ve had approximately 200 residents and
community members participate in face-to-face workshops, pop ups and
meetings in the early stages of engagement on this project. In some cases
due to the type of engagement it was not recorded if the participant was a
resident of Knights Road, a resident of a surrounding street or a regular
user of Knights Road. We have engaged with the local schools and their
school communities. Specific engagement initiatives included; a letter
drop in June2020, workshops in July-September 2020, a display activity at
Queensgate in 2020, a letter drop in November 2020, a letter drop in
December 2020, Birch St. pop up park launch in late 2020, letter drop in
January 2021 and another letter drop in February 2021.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of
this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
[2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Please note that this letter (with your personal details removed) may be
published on the Council’s website.
Yours sincerely,
Hutt City Council
Hutt City Council, 30 Laings Road, Private Bag 31912, Lower Hutt 5040, New
Zealand
W [3]www.huttcity.govt.nz
From: Information Management Team
Sent: Thursday, 18 February 2021 2:03 PM
To: '[FOI #14703 email]'
Subject: RE: Official Information request - Budget, cost/benefit analysis,
and consultations on Knights Road cycleway [#598B0A]
18/02/2021
Rhiannon McKinstry
[4][FOI #14703 email]
Dear Rhiannon McKinstry,
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION - LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL INFORMATION AND
MEETINGS ACT 1987: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF REQUEST
I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your official information request
dated 17 February 2021 for information regarding Budget, cost/benefit
analysis, and consultations on Knights Road cycleway.
We received your request on 18 February 2021. We will endeavour to respond
to your request as soon as possible and in any event no later than 20
working days after the day your request was received. If we are unable to
respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of
that timeframe.
If any additional factors come to light which are relevant to your
request, please do not hesitate to contact us so that these can be taken
into account.
Yours sincerely,
Euan Kyle
Senior Advisor, Official Information and Privacy
Hutt City Council, 30 Laings Road, Private Bag 31912, Lower Hutt 5040, New
Zealand
T 04 570 6702 W [5]www.huttcity.govt.nz
From: Contact
Sent: Thursday, 18 February 2021 7:12 AM
To: Information Management Team
Subject: FW: Official Information request - Budget, cost/benefit analysis,
and consultations on Knights Road cycleway [#598B0A]
show quoted sections
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