Wellington's Basin Reserve report released

Wellington City. Photo / Marty Melville

A final report has been released by the independent Board of Inquiry appointed to decide on the flyover proposal for Wellington's Basin Reserve into why it declined resource consent for the $90 million project.

The board by majority decision - three to one - declined the New Zealand Transport Agency's applications for resource consent for the construction, operation and maintenance of State Highway 1 in Wellington City between Paterson Street and Buckle Street/Taranaki Street.

Among its reasons, the decision said the agency had not given enough consideration to alternative options.

A total of 215 submissions were received by the board, and evidence was heard from 69 witnesses and representations by a further 74 submitters during the hearing.

The hearing lasted 72 days over a four-month period.

Following the release of the draft report and decision in July, seven comments were received from parties, which resulted in some technical and minor changes to the final decision.

The Environmental Protection Authority board's acting chairman Kevin Thompson said the amount of information before the Board of Inquiry was significant, the matters were complex, and the hearing involved a large amount of expert evidence and cross-examination.

There was also a high degree of public interest in the outcome of the hearing.

The board's decision could be appealed by parties to the High Court on points of law only.