Infrastructure and
Regulatory Committee
29 April 2022
File: (22/1022)
Report no: IARCC2022/2/87
Additional Draft Integrated Transport Strategy Report
Purpose of Report
1. To update the Committee on the results of community consultation and changes to the Integrated Transport Strategy (ITS) based on the feedback received.
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Recommendations That the Committee recommends that Council: (1) receives and notes the information; (2) thanks the submitters for their feedback on the draft Integrated Transport Strategy; (3) considers the feedback received on the draft Integrated Transport Strategy; (4) provides feedback to officers on the draft Integrated Transport Strategy; and (5) subject to consideration and feedback, advises Council of its view of the Integrated Transport Strategy ahead of approval being sought from Council on 24 May 2022. |
Background
2. This report provides a summary of all the feedback received from the community during the consultation period of 30 March to 12 April 2022, inclusive.
Discussion
3. During the consultation period, there were 775 visits to the Have Your Say project page.
4. There was a total of 224 responses to the survey, including over 700 free-text comments.
5. This report provides a summary of the feedback received and the relevant changes made based on this feedback.
6. Further detailed submissions were received from the following organisations / groups: Hutt Cycle Network, Living Streets Aotearoa, Waka Kotahi, Carbon Zero Network, and the Petone Community Board. These were provided with the initial report except for the submission from the Carbon Zero Network, attached as Appendix 1 to the report.
7. A
summary of the feedback and the updated ITS as a result of the consultation,
attached as Appendix 2 to the report.
Strategic feedback
8. There was consistent feedback that the strategy did not go far enough in terms of mitigating the effects of climate change and prioritising safety and accessibility.
9. The strategy has been designed to build on the work that has been done on Council’s other strategies, such as the District Plan, the Interim Carbon Reduction Plan and Resilience Plan and the Lower Hutt Climate Action Pathway.
10. In response to that feedback, changes have been made to the strategy to give a greater focus to these aspects. While they were a central focus of the ITS, we have made changes to the strategy to ensure they are more obvious.
11. There was also feedback on the vision that it was not bold or urgent enough and should directly reference Carbon Zero, the climate change emergency and removing vehicles from the roads.
12. Officers have reviewed all the feedback which relates to the vision. The vision needs to reflect all aspects of the strategy, which is focussed on sustainability, connecting communities, and enabling all our people to thrive. Officers believe that the current vision encapsulates what we need to do to deliver an integrated transport system for all our people.
Challenges we are facing
13. We have rearranged the challenges we are facing section to make Environmental impact the main challenge and changed Perceptions of Safety to Safety.
14. The environmental impacts have been linked to the Lower Hutt Climate Change Pathway.
15. The
Safety section has been updated to include accessibility and enabling and
encouraging mode shift for shorter trips.
Guiding Principles
16. Officers have reviewed the feedback and updated the introduction to reiterate the focus on climate change, safety, and accessibility with the following statement:
Reducing the impact of
climate change and developing a safe and accessible transport system will
underpin all future decisions. In order to achieve this, we have developed the
following principles to guide planning, design, and management of the transport
system and how these connections are provided.
Focus Areas
17. After reviewing the feedback on the focus areas, the focus areas themselves have not changed. In the introduction (pg. 31 of the strategy) we have clarified that these are the 7 areas that will allow Council to best reduce the impacts of climate change and provide a safer and more accessible transport system.
18. There are no major changes to the descriptions for the following focus areas:
· Develop a connected and safe transport network that makes it more attractive for people to cycle, walk or use the bus
· Create people-focussed, liveable streets around key transport hubs and local centres
· Make it easier for all people to use public transport
19. There was considerable feedback about the reliability and accessibility of public transport in the focus area that encouraged people to rethink how and when they travel. This is something that Officer’s will be working with Greater Wellington Regional Council on.
20. In the focus area that supports the uptake of innovations that will help change behaviour and reduce emissions, there was a lot of feedback on prioritising electric vehicle car parks. Concerns were raised about prioritising those parks over mobility parks, and the misconception that charging facilities will be free. Feedback was also received about the unaffordability of electric vehicles.
21. Over 81% of respondents wanted a bigger focus on moving freight via rail with the rail line from Seaview in response to the focus area about improved connectivity to the regional transport network to support the movement of goods and services. This feedback will be referred to KiwiRail for further discussion.
22. The
focus area that looked at building housing and locating key services near
employment and activity hubs, received a lot of feedback. This feedback was
primarily in opposition to housing intensification. Negative feedback was also
received about offering financial incentives to encourage higher density
developments and the issue of Public-Private Partnerships. Both of these areas
have been removed based on the feedback.
Measuring Outcomes
23. It
has been made clear that key targets and measures for the outcomes stated will
be developed later, under more specific planning after the strategy is adopted.
Summary
24. Appended to this report is the submission from Hutt Carbon Zero Network (Appendix 1) and a detailed report showing the responses and comments (Appendix 2).
25. The updated ITS is attached as Appendix 3 to the report, for your consideration.
26. At
the Infrastructure and Regulatory Committee meeting on 3 May 2022, officers
will be seeking any further feedback from Elected Members and any changes that
Members would like ahead of the updated strategy going to Council for approval
on 24 May 2022.
Climate Change Impact and Considerations
27. The matters addressed
in this report have been considered in accordance with the process set out in
Council’s Climate Change Considerations Guide.
Consultation
28. This paper sets out the public consultation that has taken place on the draft ITS.
Legal Considerations
29. There are no legal considerations for this paper.
Financial Considerations
30. There are no financial considerations for this paper.
|
No. |
Title |
Page |
|
1⇩ |
ITS Feedback - Hutt Carbon Zero Network |
7 |
|
2⇩ |
ITS Feedback - Sumary of All Feedback |
14 |
|
3⇩ |
Draft Integrated Transport Strategy Post-Consultation |
78 |
Author: Jon Kingsbury
Head of Transport
Approved By: Kara Puketapu-Dentice
Director Economy and Development
