Palmerston North city councillor William Wood: Have you heard of the Palmerston North Strategic Transport Networks Plan?

Palmerston North city councillor William Wood says as a regional city on-street parking is important for Palmerston North. Photo / Kevin Bills Media

OPINION

People who are happy with being able to drive around our city at 50km/h and park near a store don’t tend to submit to the council.

Because why would you? If you’re happy with the status quo, then why submit to change it? This, in reality, means the council tends to hear mainly from those wanting change, like more cycleways, less parking, and lower speeds.

For those of us who are happy with what we’ve got, we often don’t notice change until it’s happened. Speeds get reduced, parks get removed, cycle lanes get put in. That’s what the council has signalled it will do in its 10-Year Plan, but have you read it? Quite possibly not.

At the first Economic Growth Committee meeting of the term, the council’s Strategic Transport Networks Plan was left to “lie on the table”. This gives councillors the opportunity to further alter it, and I’d like your feedback. The plan identifies prioritised transport modes for different roads, some for cycling, walking, general traffic, public transport, and freight. It then seeks to design and make decisions for these roads with the preferred mode of transport in mind.

The reason many of us voted to “lie it on the table” is that we don’t believe there has been enough community or elected-member input. That plan itself is a collation of a number of other council transport plans that have been signalled to the community for years, but I believe many people aren’t aware of what has been signalled.

The plan has some good aspects, but there are parts to it that inform long-term decision-making that worry me. It calls for a city-wide speed limit reduction on all urban streets to 40km/h with few exceptions. It calls for “removal/rationalisation of on-street parking” on walking-priority streets and “major arterial routes”, which include The Square, much of Broadway Ave, George, Cuba, King and Queen Sts, Church St near the centre city, Rangitīkei St, Pioneer Highway, Main St/Napier Rd, Fitzherbert Ave, Tremaine Ave, and Summerhill Drive.

I do not believe our community is aware of this direction, and in 10 years’ time when we start to see it happening it will be too late to object. As a regional city on-street parking is important for our community, particularly for our elderly and those with disabilities, but also those with businesses in affected streets.

So what can you do? Contact me directly, or come and submit, call or email other councillors, send us letters, make it known if you agree or disagree. Because if we wait until it’s happening it will be too late. We are elected to represent you and what you want, and when it comes to transport we need you to tell us what that is.

– William Wood is a Palmerston North city councillor