Bike racks to replace car parks in Nelson without consultation, time for feedback

Tuesday, 21 July 2020

Councillor Tim Skinner at the site of the proposed bike parking station on Trafalgar St outside Civic House. Skinner said the fast-pace of the decision left no time for public feedback.

Councillors have been cut out of a decision on bike stands set to go outside Nelson's Civic House and the Ministry of Social Development building.

The stands will cost about $100,000 each, though some of that will be funded via Government contributions, and they will look similar to covered bus shelters with a ‘double-decker’ space for up to 60 bikes to be locked in each one.

The one set to go outside Civic House, in front of the old post office building, will take up seven car-parking spaces. The one in Montgomery square will take up two. Work will begin this week.

Several councillors were dismayed that they found out about the locations just last week, and were barred from speaking publicly about the decision until Monday. This embargo was to allow business-owners to be told before the decision was made public.

* Cyclist urges redesign of Brightwater main street upgrade

* Nelson City Council calls for views on options for inner-city changes

* Bike share ending as council negotiates with new provider

Seven of the parking spaces outside Civic House will be replaced with a 60-bike sheltered storage shed. The pick-up/drop-off parks and the disability access parks will be maintained.

Councillor Gaile Noonan said she was “disappointed” that the decision was made without referral to a committee or to the full council.

“They [council staff] might have every right to do it … they certainly must believe they've got the authority, but anything controversial usually ought to go to your elected members.”

Councillor Trudie Brand said there seemed to have been “miscommunication”, as much of the decision-making was from the previous council and had not been run past new members.

Current bike parking options in Nelson do not provide shelter from the elements like the new stands will.

“I'm not anti-bike transport … [but] I would have expected more discussion and more communication.

“If you’re taking [car parks] away, where are you going to re-allocate them?”

Councillor Tim Skinner said two major concerns for him was that car-parking in the central city was suffering from “death by 1000 cuts”, and that there was no time for the public to either approve or disapprove of the decision.

“[The decision] was embargoed until yesterday, and it’s starting tomorrow, so there’s no time for feedback.”

He said council staff said there had been consultation with businesses in the area, but when he canvassed the street only two business owners said they were not opposed, three were not available for him to talk to, and “everyone else” had no idea the parks were being removed.

“It looks bad for me, because I park [my bike] outside there for convenience, it looks like it’s been put there for me and it’s quite the opposite.”

Councillor Brian McGurk, chair of the regional transport committee, said the stands were approved and funded via the long term plan 2018-2028, and the specific location of them were an “operational” decision.

“We’ve set a governance direction, we [elected members] need to get involved in the governance, not bogged down in operational matters.

“[The locations] are pretty much an operational decision: council told staff ‘find a suitable site in the CBD for these stands’. They looked at a whole bunch of sites …these are the two most suitable sites we’ve got.”

Councillor Matt Lawrey said the new stands were an “excellent move”.

“Modal shift is a priority for this council, we’ve been open about that. These stands respond to increasing demand from people wanting to park their bikes, in particular ebikes, under shelter.

“They can take 60 bikes each, ideally that’s 120 people not taking their cars into town … they do seem expensive, but the price-tag is a lot lower than for a parking building.”