Shabby city with potential
Transforming the centre of Wellington into a car and bus-free zone is “common sense, not nonsense” according to Sir Robert Jones. The polarising entrepreneur is turning his hand to local government, and assembling a team to contest the 2010 Wellington City Council elections on a platform of banning buses and other traffic from the “Golden Mile” between Lambton Quay and Courtenay Place.
Instead, free trams and bicycles would be provided. Cafés and kiosks would be encouraged as well as a Saturday market, and water fountains and other attractions would be installed along the central city route.
Describing Wellington as a “shabby city with potential”, Jones claimed his suggestions would cause a surge of apartment construction and a massive economic boom. “It is not hard – it is simple.”
Citing examples of successful projects in Brisbane, Budapest, Copenhagen, Vienna and Barcelona, he expected a Wellington CBD transformation could easily be completed in a matter of months.
“Other buggers will be saying, ‘vote for me’, but we’ll be saying ‘vote for this’.”
I talked to one businessowner today who said “I hate going into Wellington” for the same reason. “Free trams” are a great idea, Wellington had trams in the turn of the century – you now, when Bob Jones was a young man – but it seriously would be good to get modern electric trams instead of the 5 000 buses cramming and shunting their way at 1metre/hour down one street in the middle of the city today. Buses could use Featherston instead of Lambton Quay, while the cbd is a free tram zone. Not bad. The only problem is we’re sick of the existing infrastructure that doesn’t work (see: Transmetro) so there’ll be little patience for putting in yet another entirely new infrstructure that’ll be mismanged.