Council decision to ban cars on Golden Mile “disappointing”: RetailNZ

A plan to disallow private vehicles along Wellington’s ‘Golden Mile’ within three years in an effort to transform the thoroughfare has been met with stark criticism from retailers and business leaders alike.

The “Let’s Get Wellington Moving” plan, detailed yesterday, will impact shops along the mile that will soon be more difficult to access, and could see delivery services impacted.

RetailNZ chief executive Greg Harford called the council’s decision “disappointing news for struggling retailers”, and that it further incentivises customers to shop locally and ignore CBD shopping.

“Retail stores need to be easily accessible to customers – whether those customers want to travel on foot, by bike, by bus, or by car. Many customers have already deserted the city in favour of suburban shopping malls where it is easier to park, and the proposal will just make things worse,” said Harford.

“A key failing [of the decision] is that there is no research about the barriers that already exist to shopping in the central city, and whether the anti-car proposal will make things worse.”

Wellington Council’s decision seems to fly in the face of its own research: a survey of 2,000 people held in 2020 saw most agree with the idea to transform the space, but disliking the idea of removing general traffic on the grounds that there is likely to be unwanted economic impacts.

Worse still, according to Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive Simon Arcus, is that the decision has been made without putting forward any certainty or information to make the idea palatable for retailers.

“There are hundreds of businesses along the golden mile that are going to be impacted, but there is no further information yet on service and delivery vehicle access, taxi stands, or how traffic flows may operate on and around the now cut-off side streets,“ said Arcus.

“These are all critical issues that the Chamber and others raised during the submissions and engagement process over the past 18 months, so we certainly expected further details as part of [the] announcement.”

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