NZ is littered with well-intentioned actions that ended in a balls-up – Ryan Bridge

Modern-day approaches to class size and layout have their benefits and drawbacks. Photo / Peter Meecham

THE FACTS

• Shirley Boys’ High School is spending $1 million converting open-plan classrooms back to single cells.
• New Plymouth’s $3.8m cycleway project is being criticised for causing vehicle damage and emergency access issues.
• These examples highlight well-intentioned actions leading to negative outcomes, questioning the foresight of such initiatives.

I was planning to write this week about the law of unintended consequences. The theory is pretty simple: when the actions of individuals or organisations (like governments) result in unanticipated or unforeseeable outcomes.

It results in what we might colloquially call a balls-up. Government regulation of sesame seed labelling on food products is an example of this law often cited in America.

The Food and Drug Administration wanted to make food safer for people with allergies, so it required manufacturers to label products containing sesame seeds. Sounds simple and reasonable but the outcome was anything but.

The producers worried they might accidentally fall foul of the regulations so instead of testing and labelling their products, they added sesame seeds to food that previously contained none.

Fearing regulatory missteps, producers altered their products to simplify labelling rather than accurately reflect ingredients. Photo / Getty Images

It was cheaper and less risky to add them in and whack it on the label than face the consequences of not doing so. The result was more foods containing sesame seeds than before the change was made.

Well-meaning, good intentions but ultimately quite the balls-up. This week we’ve had two examples which could fit into this category. According to RNZ, Shirley Boys’ High School is spending almost $1 million reconfiguring its near-new open-plan classrooms back into single cells.

It turns out the so-called "modern learning environments" weren’t such a bright idea. Children are noisy creatures and packing multiple classrooms full into one big, open amphitheatre of distraction means teachers spending less time teaching and more time shushing loud kids.

In New Plymouth, it’s cycleways. The local council has ordered a safety audit of a brand new $3.8m NZTA bike lane project that aimed to provide greater transport choice and make roads “safer” for all road users. They’ve basically installed ankle-high concrete blocks on the road, which locals have apparently labelled Tim Tams because of their likeness to the choccy biscuits.

Motorists have damaged their vehicles after hitting the raised blocks and others have complained they can no longer pull over to allow ambulances and fire trucks through during emergencies.

A similar problem was identified in Wellington when raised pedestrian crossings slowed the journey of emergency vehicles, which is not ideal if you’re riding in the back of one hooked up to a resus machine.

These are examples of well-intentioned actions that have resulted in poor outcomes.

Of course, not all cycleways are bad; the one running parallel but totally separate to Auckland’s Northwestern Motorway is a good example of a great one.

But these new Tim Tam versions are a bit like modern learning environments: expensive fads that create more problems than they solve.

You could argue, as I was planning to this week, that these are examples of the law of unintended consequences. Our politicians and bureaucrats see a problem and dream up ideas to fix them.

Unbeknown to them, other problems crop up that, on balance, outweigh the benefits of fixing the problem to begin with.

A balls-up. Come to think of it, I can’t imagine what problem open-plan classrooms were trying to solve? Were children lonely in a class of only 25? Who decided they’d be better off in the educational equivalent of a stadium? Whatever the reason for doing it, you can’t tell me nobody foresaw the problems they’d create.

You can’t tell me nobody warned the Ministry of Education that teaching kids maths in Eden Park might be somewhat distracting. You can’t tell me nobody warned councils about the danger of installing concrete blocks on busy roads so low to the ground they’re difficult for motorists to see?

Cycleway and classroom fads backfire, causing costly issues. Photo / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Isn’t narrowing a road the opposite of a safety improvement?

Where’s the common sense?

You can’t blame the law of unintended consequences if the consequences are that simple to predict. Some fads are just dumb ideas that should never have been invented.