In today's headlines with Wilhelmina Shrimpton, huge inequities in policing, fire in central Auckland apartment, and concern over child language skills.
A community board member has labelled the transport hub as “lavish” as a regional councillor admits it wouldn’t necessarily get approved in the current economic climate.
The $2.2 million hub opens in Paraparaumu on the Kāpiti Coast this Sunday, complete with two “living-roof” bus shelters with plants on the roof, a walkway, real-time information screens on bus services and charging infrastructure for electric bikes and e-scooters.
Speaking to media following an appearance at the fiery Local Government New Zealand conference, Brown said it was a “crazy bus stop with a garden on top”.
“I mean that stuff is nuts,” Brown added, before asking: “Why on earth is money being spent on crazy things like that when all people want is a bus stop?”
In a post on social media, Paraparaumu Community Board member Bernie Randall described the two bus shelters as “gold plated”.
“As you shelter from the rain waiting for the bus, remind yourself that this lavish expenditure is bought to you by the Regional Council via your rates,” Randall said.
The bus shelters have cultural design elements and 'living' roofs. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Kāpiti Coast District Council rates have increased by 17.19% this year and Greater Wellington Regional Council rates by 20.55%.
When asked about the cost of the hub, Greater Wellington Regional Council transport committee chair Thomas Nash said it was “hard to tell” if the project would be signed off if proposed today.
In an interview with NZME, Nash said: “This would’ve been signed off under a different arrangement for funding and transport settings.
“I don’t think that everything has to be brutal and ugly for public transport. We’re in a new step of funding constraints now and I think the projects that would be signed off from now on will take those [aspects] into account, for sure.
“We get the message from the Government that they want to spend less on public transport infrastructure,” Nash said, adding that the Paraparaumu bus hub was designed for maximum public amenity, to make public transit more attractive to people.
Nash said they had tried to put together a transport hub to “stand the test of time for decades to come”, with large bus shelters and a walkway built to last.
“[It] might seem like a lot right now, but over time it will pay itself off in benefits – we’re sure.”
The transport hub opens on Sunday, August 25.
The New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi funded 51% of the bus shelters and surrounding infrastructure, with Metlink picking up the remaining 49%.
Metlink group manager Samantha Gain said the transport hub is designed to meet the demand of more than 440,000 bus and rail journeys a month.
In an update on the project in 2022, she explained why they had opted for “living roofs” on the shelters.
“In a first for Metlink, we will install distinctive living-roof bus shelters. As well as being very attractive, they will contribute to the overall sustainability theme and green credentials of the transport hub.”
She said that coupled with new signage and Real Time Information displays the outcome should be “a great customer experience”.
In the same update, a Kāpiti Coast District Council spokesperson said the upgrade would “transform” Paraparaumu’s town centre.
Kāpiti Coast District Mayor Janet Holborow had previously said she was “thrilled” to see the vision of a “people-friendly, safe and convenient plaza and transport hub coming to life”.
Construction on the two bus shelters started in September 2022. In December 2023, the transport hub was expected to open in March 2024, but that was pushed out to June. The site is now officially opening this Sunday, August 25.
Azaria Howell is a Wellington-based multimedia reporter with an eye across the region. She joined NZME in 2022 and has a keen interest in city council decisions, public service agency reform and transport.
