Nelsonians from around the city gathered today to give a resounding ‘no’ to a road that they say will “destroy” and “disconnect” them.
Community members gathered along the Railway Reserve on Friday, linking arms in protest to a proposal by Waka Kotahi NZTA to build a new 'inland route' along the reserve and through the Victory community.
The proposal is one of three put forward as part of the Nelson Future Access Project and includes options to widen Rocks Rd to four lanes, build a new inland route along the previous Southern Link corridor, or add priority lanes to Waimea and Rocks Rd.
Protest organisers Clare Scott and Rebecca Glenn say the proposal to build the new road should be taken of the table all together.
“Saying that this is even a viable option for this smart little city is just so hypocritical, it’s completely contradictory to what we’re trying to achieve for this city,” says Clare.
She says building the road will clearly increase the number of drivers and decrease the number of active transport users which goes against all of the current policies held by NZTA and Nelson City Council.
“It’s a really reactionary process - 'we’ve got a lot of traffic, build more roads, oh look there’s more traffic we need to build more carparks then build more roads'."
Protest organiser Clare Scott adresses the crowd on the Railway Reserve. Photo: Sara Hollyman.
Clare says looking at pictures of highways built in the 1950s you can see that they too were congested.
“So, we built more, now they’re congested, and we’re projecting growth so we’re going to build more and they’ll be congested - this is not rocket science.”
She says the idea of building a new highway was suggested in the 1960s during the “age of the highway”.
“Now in 2020 how many 1960s ideals do we still look at with respect? Do we still think we should be smoking inside? Do we still think we should be keeping women at home? Why are we stuck in this 1950s-60s traffic model when we’ve had generations of transport engineers and transport planners who should be able to think better than this. It’s disappointing that this is still an option in this day in age."
Rebecca says after living in the area for eight years, she was initially surprised at the amount of birdlife in the area and fears it will all disappear if the road proceeds.
“We have a big kowhai tree in our garden, and I can see the reserve below. I was blown away but the amount of piwakaka, the tui, it’s incredible the amount of birds. We’ve even heard morepork just recently for the first time.
“If this road goes in all that will be destroyed, and it will disconnect the community further.”
Rebecca says the Railway Reserve is historic and needs to be preserved and protected.
“This community is so vibrant and rich and diverse, the reserve needs to have mahi put into it and it needs to be actually enhanced, it’s an awesome part of Nelson. There’s Nelson South that use it as well to commute, loads of people do."
She says the idea that there will still be a cycle link maintained alongside the new road is a way to “gloss up the idea”.
“I don’t see it possible to be maintained at all with the type of road that they’re proposing, especially with the negative impacts on the environment and the community.”
View the
online petition
here or join the
Preserve the Reserve Facebook page
.
