The City to Sea Bridge, a pedestrian bridge and public artwork in Wellington. The Wellington City Council says it plans to start demolition work on the bridge this Friday. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
Work to demolish Wellington’s iconic City to Sea bridge could begin before the end of the week, after the High Court threw out a judicial review by Wellington Civic Trust, which was attempting to halt it.
Shortly after the court released its decision on Monday, elected councillors were emailed a copy and told that the trust had three days to decide whether to appeal. If not, they were told demolition work would start on Friday.
In April, the trust took a judicial review to court, claiming the council’s decision in December to demolish the bridge was flawed and it should be set aside.
The 33m reinforced concrete bridge crosses over Jervois Quay, a busy six-lane arterial road, connecting the walkway at Whairepo Lagoon to Te Ngākau Civic Square.
Built in 1993, the bridge was seismically strengthened in 2011, but no longer meets current earthquake standards. There were also fears that, should it collapse, it would block the arterial route essential for emergency services.
Cost estimates to repair the bridge ranged from $86-$120m. Even partial strengthening was estimated to cost $53.3m, all of which was deemed unaffordable by councillors.
On Monday afternoon, Justice Christine Grice released a 70-page judgment finding there had been no errors by the council and none of the trust’s grounds for review had been made out in the circumstances.
This was followed 37 minutes later by a five-line email from the council’s legal services manager Karyn Basher, to all elected councillors and the council’s executive leadership team.
In the email, Basher said the trust had 20 days to appeal the decision.
“Council had previously undertaken not to take any action to demolish the bridge, but did not commit to this continuing beyond the decision, should council be successful.
“Council has agreed to wait three working days to allow the trust time to consider the decision and decide whether they will appeal and file an injunction.
“If they decide not to appeal, we will start demolition work on Friday.”
The email has sparked outrage from current councillors and a leading mayoral candidate, with one describing it as “incredibly brutal and arrogant”, while another said she’d never seen the council move so quickly.
After receiving the email, councillor Nicola Young sought a meeting with the chief executive today to discuss possible options, given it’s so close to the local government elections.
“Wellingtonians, who we represent, do not want that bridge demolished”.
Young described the council’s email as “incredibly brutal and arrogant” and in complete contrast with the many emails she’d received from the public on the subject, including one which said the decision to demolish was, “frustrating as many of the councillors who voted to demolish the bridge are not standing in October’s elections”.
Councillor Diane Calvert wanted to know why the council was only giving the trust three days, when there was a 20-day appeal period, and what would be demolished this week.
“How can they start demolishing the bridge in three days’ time? Get contractors on board in three working days. I’ve never seen the council move so quickly.”
She said the council’s response seemed rushed, and given they were now in caretaker state because of the upcoming elections, the appeal should be allowed to run its course with the new incoming council making the final decision.
Mayoral candidate Andrew Little said if the council was acting in good faith, it would allow the trust a proper amount of time to decide whether to appeal. Ultimately, a decision on the bridge’s future should be left to the new council, he said.
Meanwhile, council spokesman Richard MacLean clarified that, “practically speaking, actual demolition work could not start on Friday, but preparations will”.
The trust declined to comment.
In December, the council’s kōrau tūāpapa environment and infrastructure committee voted to demolish the bridge.
The trust alleged that the committee failed to identify and assess all reasonably practicable options regarding the future of the bridge; made a mistake of law and/or fact in classifying the bridge’s importance level for seismic assessment purposes; and failed to properly consult with the public.
Meanwhile, the council maintained that all reasonably practical options and relevant information were put before the committee before it made its decision. It said the process was thorough and met all the relevant legal requirements.
In her decision, Justice Grice held that the council was required to consider several factors, including the risks associated with seismic failure, on which it had expert advice, and the relationship between the bridge and the development of the rest of the precinct, which includes the land and buildings in the Civic Square.
Justice Grice found the council made no errors in reaching its decision.
“The council officers identified and put before the committee all ‘reasonably practical options’,” the judge said, adding that the council had commissioned numerous engineering and expert reports and was properly briefed on and debated the relevant issues.
In particular, the judge said, councillors considered the possibility of delaying their decision to allow further information to be obtained and other options developed, but ultimately rejected that proposal.
The decision also found that the public consultation process met the statutory requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in the circumstances.
“The council made its decision based on the diversity of views before it, including those gathered in the public consultation”.
As part of that decision, councillors voted to replace the bridge with a pedestrian crossing on Jervois Quay, with options to replace the bridge considered at a later date.
Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.