Pro-cycling lobby groups win SkyPath action

The SkyPath will connect to the Westhaven walking and cycling promenade. Graphic / Supplied

The Environment Court has granted permission for two pro-cycling lobby groups to become involved in litigation over Auckland's proposed SkyPath.

Cycle Action Auckland and Generation Zero can now participate in the litigation after separate decisions were issued by Judge Melanie Harland.

Parties to the action included Auckland Council, Woodward Infrastructure and local groups Northcote Point Heritage Preservation Society, Herne Bay Residents Association, Northcote Residents Association.

During July, the Northcote society filed an appeal against the council's decision to grant consent for SkyPath to be constructed, maintained and operated, the judge said in the Cycle Action case.

The combined pedestrian/cycling route over the Auckland Harbour Bridge is planned to run from the North Shore's Princes St to the Westhaven's Curran St and Westhaven Dr on the city side.

Cycle Action filed a notice of interest to become a party to the SkyPath appeals and the judge decided that should be allowed.

"Cycle Action Auckland is the key stakeholder for cycling for the Auckland Council, Auckland Transport and the New Zealand Transport Agency," the group told the court.

Cycle Action said it only missed the closing date for the appeal due to an "oversight caused in part by the different dates for the other related appeals."

The judge decided to grant the appeal, saying she was not satisfied there were compelling reasons to decline it.

Generation Zero's case was almost exactly the same: it also filled applications for a waiver out of time.

"Generation Zero submitted that it has not been involved in an Environment Court proceeding before and that as a lay submitter, it was not aware that it was required to apply to become a party to the proceedings," the judge's decision said.

In both cases, residents' groups said that allowing more parties to participate in the appeals would not assist with the "efficient and cost effective disposal of the appeals". Generation Zero and Cycle Action's inability to comply with statutory time frames showed a lack of understanding of the proceedings and that raised concern that the involvement of the two parties would further complicate case management, the residents' groups submitted.

But the judge rejected those arguments and said the two groups had applied to join the action relatively recently and there had not been any significant case management steps which would have been compromised.

SkyPath's web site says the next stage of the case is imminent.

"The Environment Court has assigned the SkyPath appeal its "priority case management track". The parties have agreed to court-assisted mediation and the date for this to commence has been set down for Tuesday, November 3," SkyPath says.