Another $30 million in council expenditure - what can they be thinking at City Hall?
In the current fiscal climate, as it pertains to the Dunedin City Council and its put-upon rates catchment, any proposed new spending is likely to seem an unnecessary and unaffordable impost.
But it is important to keep a sense of perspective in such matters and while all proposed spending and new projects must be subject to rigorous scrutiny - and meaningful cost-benefit analysis - planning for the future cannot simply be put on hold.
A closer look at the proposals relating to a network of cycle routes for the city shows this is indeed future planning - to implement a 20-30 year vision, and at the same time to respond to calls for safe cycle facilities for the city repeatedly made by residents in the annual plan submission process.
A report on such a network went before the planning and environment committee of the DCC yesterday.
Much of the background for this report has been provided by Abley Transportation Consultants, identifying key cycling corridors and allowing any improvements to be completed in a focused rather than piecemeal way (and let us put to one side the common arguments about the council's use of consultants).
Abley's suggestions for roads include cycle lanes, separated cycle lanes, shared and exclusive cycle paths, tunnels and overpass bridges.
The cost for this project has been estimated in the report to be anywhere between $12 million and $20 million with a 50% contingency - to cover bridges, underpasses, professional fees, land costs and other unforeseen extras - taking the estimated total to between $18 million and $30 million.
DCC transportation and planning manager Sarah Connolly has said the possibility of government funding, merging the work with roading upgrades and spreading it across two or three decades would make the cost easier to bear for ratepayers. The next stage of the project would see it put out for public consultation.
There are, of course, a number of long-term benefits in such a network. The age of peak oil has arrived - whereby the cost of fuel for motorised vehicles is unlikely to decrease over time.
Alternative sources of oil may yet be discovered - and the possibility of locating and harvesting deposits either off the Taranaki coast or closer to home in the Canterbury basin, cannot be discounted.
But the discovery of new sources is likely to be offset by the additional cost of environmentally safe extraction from previously marginal sites. Neither can the prospect of developing alternative energy sources be ruled out, but cost versus an ever-growing demand remains a key consideration.
More people using cycles, either for commuting purposes or for recreation around the city, can only be good for the environment, the economy and for the health of those individuals. But a significant increase in the number of cyclists in the city will only become a reality when there is a purpose-built infrastructure which encourages this.
Having safe, direct and maintained cycle lanes is perhaps the most important factor in this equation. The automobile has been king for so long now that it rules to road.
It is safe to say it will probably always play a major role in the lives of businesses and individuals, but this need not rule out increased participation in cycling - to the benefit of both sectors. Many overseas cities have put cycling at the centre of their development plans.
This proposal does not go that far; rather it is an essential planning prerequisite should the people of this city ever wholeheartedly embrace cycling culture.
• And another thing
The Government is right to play a cautious hand with respect to the forthcoming visit of Fijian defector Lieutenant-colonel Tevita Mara.
Until quite recently this high-ranking officer has been at the right hand of Commodore Frank Bainimarama.
He may indeed be making all the right noises including the need for those involved in alleged human rights abuses, including himself, to be answerable, but the potential for self-interest cannot be ruled out.
Government in Fiji has clearly turned toxic and the exact machinations of the resultant power plays are unknowable. The Government should, as it has said it will, listen to Lt-col Mara, but listen at arm's length.
