The future of Wellington’s controversial $116 million Golden Mile project is uncertain after revelations that the key contract is not expected to be signed until after October’s election.
Wellington City councillors have been updated on the work at a briefing this morning.
The long-debated project is shaping up to be a key election issue, with many of the mayoral candidates campaigning on scrapping or pausing the work.
Council transport and infrastructure manager Brad Singh said this morning that the contract was expected to be signed in November.
He also revealed that, when the final costing and design were completed in February this year, the project was $20m over budget.
It has since been worked through and scoped back, with changes to pavement design, underground works, and reducing traffic management costs, but the final cost has yet to be established with the contractor.
The project’s current price for the full work is $116m, but the council has budgeted for a potential rise to $139m, which includes contingency.
The cost will be shared by the New Zealand Transport Agency and the council paying 51% and 49% respectively, but control of the project has been brought in-house.
Singh told councillors the budget was initially locked in when the design was only 60% completed, but the council did not realise how far off the design was when it was handed over from Let’s Get Wellington Moving in December 2023.
Asked by outgoing councillor Iona Pannett whether the project could still be scrapped by a future council, Singh said “that is always a possibility”.
He also noted the challenges faced by his staff working on contract negotiations throughout the many failed attempts by councillors to pause the project.
“It has not been easy for council officers to run a project like this in the environment where there’s a stop-start,” he said.
“Our contractors are very astute, they know what they’re doing, and at times it feels like you’re in the boxing ring with one hand tied behind your back and facing Mike Tyson.”
The work on the Courtenay Place phase of the project is planned to be completed in 2029 if implemented without delays, at a cost of about $43m.
The current work being undertaken at the Kent and Cambridge Terrace intersection with Courtenay Place is on track to be completed in November and on budget at only $4m.
Many of the candidates running for the mayoralty, including current councillor Ray Chung and Courtenay Place business owner Karl Tiefenbacher, say that, if elected, they would scrap the project.
Labour candidate Andrew Little said that, while he believed the project was a “good idea”, he was concerned about the cost and potential disruption to businesses.
“If elected in October, I’ll want to run my ruler over the budgets and the construction work programme.”
Flyover footage was released in February, showing what the final design could bring to Courtenay Place.
It includes removing private vehicles during daytime, a cycleway running down one side of the street, widened footpaths, new public seating and outdoor dining spaces.
There would be more trees and rain gardens that did not need watering and which were designed to filter rainwater before it entered the harbour.
The Golden Mile runs from Lambton Quay to Willis St, Manners St and eventually Courtenay Place.
Wellingtonians have been consulted on the future of this part of the city five times in the past decade.
The project was initially part of the ill-fated $7.4 billion Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) transport plan. The entire stretch of the Golden Mile was to be revamped under LGWM.
The National Party promised during its last election campaign to scrap LGWM. After the election, there was much anticipation over whether a contract for the Golden Mile could be signed before coalition talks concluded.
A contract was never signed, and the new Government scrapped LGWM. However, the council managed to salvage the Golden Mile project by bringing it in-house.
It then had to compete with other projects funded by the council’s strained budget and survive further attempts to kill it.
To save money, councillors agreed to go ahead with work on Courtenay Place and to defer work on the rest.
Singh is leaving Wellington City Council next week after six years for a job on the executive leadership team of the Western Bay of Plenty District Council as infrastructure manager.
At the end of the briefing, councillors thanked him for all his work on the project to date, with some applauding and giving him a standing ovation.
Ethan Manera is a New Zealand Herald journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 as a broadcast journalist with Newstalk ZB and is interested in local issues, politics, and property in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.