NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

A Capital Letter: Let’s Get Wellington Moving put out of its misery

Georgina Campbell
By Georgina Campbell
Senior Multimedia Journalist·NZ Herald·
29 Aug, 2023 01:00 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says a government announcement will be made soon regarding the progress of Let's Get Wellington Moving. Video / Mark Mitchell
Georgina Campbell
Opinion by Georgina Campbell
Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.
Learn more

OPINION

The capital’s beleaguered $7.4 billion transport plan Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) will be put out of its misery to varying degrees under either a Labour or National-led government.

Greater Wellington Regional Council chairman Daran Ponter said it has been a hell of a ride.

“We’re there at the invitation of the Government. If the Government is now saying that invitation is wearing a bit thin and we would prefer to go it alone, I have to say: ’Thank God’.”

Ponter is not up for defending LGWM any longer and said if it is truly now a government programme, ministers need to stand up for it and drive it.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

LGWM is a three-way partnership between Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and the Government, the regional council, and the Wellington City Council.

It was born out of the divisive Basin Reserve flyover proposal and was meant to resolve the interplay between the partners and bring them together.

But it has failed to switch gears fast enough and has lost public confidence.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It has got so bad that National has promised to kill LGWM if it gets into government. Instead, the party will deliver the second Mt Victoria tunnel and Basin Reserve improvements as fully funded state highway projects.

The Government has also clearly picked up on the frustration at LGWM’s lack of progress.

Transport Minister David Parker has come out saying the Government will now be “taking the lead” on LGWM’s state highway projects (the same ones National is promising to get on and build).

Parker said these projects are mainly the responsibility of the Government in terms of funding.

“This Government is providing certainty that funding is committed to deliver the project, and Waka Kotahi will look at ways to accelerate the works.”

Greater Wellington Regional Council chairman Daran Ponter. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Greater Wellington Regional Council chairman Daran Ponter. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The second tunnel and Basin Reserve improvements have now been identified by the Government as one of 14 key strategic routes for Waka Kotahi to consider as it develops its next 10-year National Land Transport Plan.

Mass rapid transit from the central city to Island Bay, the centrepiece of LGWM, has also been identified as one of these “critical nation-building” priorities.

Treasury and Ministry of Transport officials have been working away in the background on a national approach to funding and financing mass rapid transit but the details of this are yet to be revealed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

These three projects will do the heavy lifting to create the transformation LGWM keeps banging on about.

Asked whether LGWM will continue to exist considering this “taking the lead”, Parker said it was a matter for consideration in due course.

This is hardly a vote of confidence in the transport project as we know it.

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau was also asked whether LGWM has a future or if the partners needed to find a new way of working together.

Whanau said they were starting to shift from the design and consultation phase to construction and delivery.

“So I think it is timely that we take a look at the governance arrangements and ensure they are fit for purpose.”

Whanau is referring to the construction and delivery phase for projects like removing private vehicles from the Golden Mile. A detailed business case for LGWM’s biggest plans isn’t expected back until next year, with construction last estimated to start in 2027.

Over at the regional council, Ponter was not as diplomatic.

Asked whether LGWM was redundant, he said it was.

“The Government is signalling both in terms of what they have said, but also the money that they now are suggesting that they’re going to put more directly behind those three initiatives, that they’re looking to step up to the plate,” Ponter said.

“And if they’re willing to do that, then, certainly the Greater Wellington Regional Council can step back.”

But he stressed the three partners would still need to work together in some shape or form because the LGWM projects will plough through the city and intersect with local roads and public transport.

Ponter thinks LGWM will be reinvented in some way and the branding may go entirely, but he is also concerned about not throwing the baby out with the bathwater and going back to square one, as happened with the Basin Reserve flyover.

These comments from Ponter are the most frank reflections of any LGWM partner to date.

He clearly views the Government’s latest comments as a significant step-change in the approach to LGWM and feels that allows him to speak more freely.

So while it is still a bit unclear exactly what the transport project’s future is, it certainly won’t look like it does now.

LGWM will be put out of its misery.

• Senior Wellington journalist Georgina Campbell’s fortnightly column looks closely at issues in the capital.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

New ZealandUpdated

Family question police findings after man's body found in pond

17 Jun 08:43 PM
New Zealand

Have you seen 17 year old Mya? Police need your help

17 Jun 08:38 PM
Herald NOW

PR founder and Business CEO on Sydney Sweeney's bathwater soap

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Watch: Owners of Victoria Park New World to gain back control of fire damaged building

Watch: Owners of Victoria Park New World to gain back control of fire damaged building

17 Jun 08:56 PM

New World Victoria Park staff will continue to be paid following fire, boss says.

Family question police findings after man's body found in pond

Family question police findings after man's body found in pond

17 Jun 08:43 PM
Have you seen 17 year old Mya? Police need your help

Have you seen 17 year old Mya? Police need your help

17 Jun 08:38 PM
PR founder and Business CEO on Sydney Sweeney's bathwater soap

PR founder and Business CEO on Sydney Sweeney's bathwater soap

Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP