Thanks to the facilitation of Mayor Kerry Prendergast, some improvements have been made to Mt Victoria intersections for local pedestrians.

As part of the Mt Victoria Residents Association submission on the recent Ngauranga to Airport Corridor Plan, we pointed out that the pedestrian lights on Kent and Cambridge Terraces were not particularly user-friendly. One of the intersections we highlighted is the Cambridge/Vivian intersection (below), where local resident Amy Edward-Mintorn was killed by boy racers in 2006.

After discussion with Council officers, some changes to signal phasing have now been made, as noted in a recent e-mail from Soon Teck Kong at the WCC:

Vivian Street/Cambridge Tce/Kent Tce (State Highway)
We had a discussion with NZ Transport Agency (previously Transit New Zealand) this week.
We have made some adjustment to the pedestrian phases across Kent Tce and Cambridge Tce via the signal software system. Pedestrians initially crossing Kent Tce will have enough time to cross Cambridge Tce as well. The pedestrian phase across Kent Tce will continue to operate on all phases except when Kent Tce traffic runs.
Other pedestrian phase changes will require modifications to the signal hardware which NZTA will have to agree and approve. These are: i) automatic pedestrian demand call without having to push the pedestrian buttons and ii) linking the pedestrian demand call to cross Cambridge Tce to include a call to cross Kent Tce.

These changes are very welcome, and should help make the walk to town safer for residents. We’ll keep you informed of NZTA’s response to the proposed improvements.

In response to a request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, the Wellington City Council has confirmed that there are no contingency plans to relocate the Crossways Creche:

“There are no contingency plans drawn up regarding relocating the Crossways Community Creche to the Bandoliers site. A report regarding the possibility of permitting creche activities on the Town Belt is due to be presented to the Strategy and Policy Committee in late September/early October for decision by Councillors.”

The Council’s own estimates show that an investment of around $380,000 will be required to bring the Bandoliers building up to the required standard for an early childhood educational facility. As the work is extensive – new retaining walls, paths, fences, DDT removal, toilets, storage facilities and much more – it seems likely that many months of effort will be required. However no plan for either conducting the work or to manage the disruption to the creche exists.

This is clearly unsatisfactory. Council officers were opposed to the retention of Crossways by the community, and at all stages in the process made recommendations that no Council resources be put into the retention of our community house. These same staff members have had nearly 18 months in which to plan for alternatives, yet it appears that they have done absolutely nothing to ensure our community creche can continue operating once Crossways is sold.

Families with children at the creche should feel justifiable outrage at how they have been abandoned by Council officers.