A pro-car party for Wellington?

The Dom Post reports:

A pro-car political party has formed to contest the next Wellington City Council elections and cyclists are first in the firing line.

Wellington First has been formed by former councillor Bryan Weyburne and businessman Digby Paape who were inspired by promoter Phil Sprey, who recently said he would donate $10,000 for any viable candidate to topple incumbent Justin Lester.

I’m pro-car, pro-cycleways and pro-public transport.

Done well, it shouldn’t be an either or.

We need cycleways, but not ones that destroy hundreds of car parks and kill off local businesses.

Wellington has (or had until the new hubs) a pretty damn good public transport system. Sensible investments in stuff such as bus rapid transport helps motorists. Wasting $100 million a a light rail project with a BCR of 0.05 helps no-one.

While neither  were anti-cycling as such they were against Wellington’s investment and focus on getting people on pushbikes.

“We are supposed to believe that the city needs to switch over to bicycles, a  150-year-old technology that cars have virtually eliminated,” the group’s first statement says.

Again it is not either or. Cycling is great for recreation and can be a great way to commute to work if you have no kids. If you have kids cars are a near essential.

“On a sunny, calm day on flat land a bike can be a very enjoyable pastime, but on a cold, wet, blustery day on the Wellington hills, taking the children to kindy, school, as well as dropping off the partner before work is a job for cars. Everyone has one, for that reason.”

Yep.

They believed the council was putting cycles ahead of cars, including a proposal to eliminate 600 car parks in a move  to get the already-controversial Island Bay cycleway into the city.

Destroying 600 car parks for a cycleway is pretty insane.