The Star: September 21, 2017

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday September 21 2017 23
ELECTION COUNTDOWN
‘Every vote counts’ – mayor
Mayor and
former Labour
MP Lianne
Dalziel
THIS Saturday
is election day. I
cannot pick the
result or what combination will
make up the Government. With
the polls showing a range of
possible outcomes, one thing is
sure, every vote counts.
It is good that the parties
all have Christchurch on their
radar. It means that we have the
basis for working with whatever
parties form the Government.
So what should Christchurch
expect of an incoming
Government?
The first thing we will do is
provide a Briefing to Incoming
Ministers. This is standard
practice in the public service.
A BIM sets out advice on the
programme of work being
undertaken by the ministry or
department and an assessment
of actions that would need to
be taken to incorporate the
incoming Government’s election
priorities.
In this instance, I would want
to set out the top three priorities
so that they are clearly factored
into the Government’s priorities.
The first priority is not
‘politically sexy’, but is vital to
getting the city back on its feet.
Broken pipes and roads were
covered by the Cost Sharing
Agreement on horizontal
infrastructure and the repairs
were delivered by SCIRT. But
what wasn’t covered was the
considerable earthquake-related
damage to land, which affected
drainage and impacted on the
capacity of our waterways to
cope with storm events.
We can establish what was
earthquake-related and develop
a simple mechanism for sharing
the costs, enabling us to develop
a much more aggressive work
programme with Government
support. People who live in the
Flockton area can see the benefits
of the work we have done, but
there are many more areas to
attend to, especially along the
Heathcote River.
The second is the central
city. We need to get things
moving. It’s not just the major
anchor projects (Convention
Centre, metro sports facility, the
Canterbury multi-use arena)
FIX:
Infrastructure
repairs are
needed to
better cope with
storm events.
PHOTO: SARAH
WEBBER
PHOTOGRAPHY
that need to be completed; it’s
the Performing Arts Precinct
and the other elements that
make up a thriving, active city.
The case for the Government’s
contribution in the central city
relies on it becoming a regional
asset.
And finally, we all know
that what’s been known as the
residential red zone will become
one of the city’s finest assets. The
pathway from the city to the sea,
with New Brighton reinventing
itself as a major destination with
the support of Development
Christchurch, will enable
significant opportunities to open
up, the benefits of which will flow
from generation to generation.
This is not a wish list. Investing
in Christchurch is good for the
region and good for the nation.
This time we need to sit down
and negotiate as equal partners
regardless of who is elected, and
the communities, groups and
businesses that make up our city
and region can have a real say
about our future.
Follow election
the
www.star.kiwi
Too close to call
By Audrey Young, political
editor, NZ Herald
THIS TIME a year ago, the
last thing anyone would have
predicted was a general election
featuring Jacinda Ardern v Bill
English.
Politics in New Zealand was
being eclipsed by riveting events
in other parts of the world.
The British vote to leave the
European Union had occurred,
and the dramatic United States
presidential election campaign
was under way.
Polls came in for some
criticism after both of those
votes, but in fact a relatively
small number of voters in both
contests could have affected
the final outcome. In Britain,
if 635,000 people out of 33.5
million who cast their vote
had voted differently, the result
would have been different.
In the US, Hillary Clinton
received almost three million
more votes than Donald Trump
and if she had secured the votes
of 38,875, Trump voters in three
states – Michigan, Wisconsin
and Pennsylvania – the result
would have been different.
In New Zealand, voting
under MMP is proportional.
The number of votes a party
gets in the party vote is directly
reflected in the number of seats
it gets in Parliament, so long as
they get at least one electorate or
win five per cent of the vote.
The party vote is the most
important in determining
which party or parties will
run the country. In spite of the
direct proportionality, at the last
election in New Zealand, almost
one million people who were
eligible to vote didn’t. Some
didn’t enrol at all and almost
700,000 of them were enrolled
but didn’t vote.
This election may change
that. Polls have already had a
major impact in this election
by precipitating the resignation
of Little and propelling Ardern
on to the national stage and her
party up the polls.
This election feels tighter than
others because the two largest
parties are polling more closely
than they have for some years.
Instead of us watching the
world, the world is watching us.
Expect night-time traffic delays at the Lyttelton Tunnel
If you are driving at night through the Lyttelton Tunnel,
expect occasional delays from later this month through
until December 2018.
For a few nights each month, just one traffic lane in the tunnel will be open and on
occasions both traffic lanes will need to be closed.
These traffic lane closures are required as work begins on a $28.7 million fire
protection upgrade inside the Lyttelton Tunnel, to increase the safety and
resilience of this essential freight route for both Christchurch and Canterbury.
A project of this scale and complexity makes some traffic lane closures inside the
tunnel unavoidable. They are needed so hundreds of water nozzles that are an
integral part of the fire protection upgrade can be installed in the tunnel ceiling.
To minimise disruptions for tunnel users, the work will be done at night when
traffic flows are lightest.
HOW TO PLAN FOR THESE DELAYS
• A three-monthly calendar for all planned night-time single lane closures
and full closures will be available at nzta.govt.nz/projects/lyttelton-tunnel/
• Lane closure details will be displayed on electronic message boards at the
tunnel at least two days before they happen.
• Closures are planned to the best of the project team’s ability, but may be
subject to change.
• Allow extra time for tunnel travel on these dates.
• Emergency access through the tunnel will still be provided during all
traffic lane closures.
• Most full tunnel traffic lane closures will be from March 2018.
• Real-time traffic information for the Lyttelton Tunnel area can be found
at www.tfc.govt.nz
For more information about the Lyttelton Tunnel fire protection upgrade, go to www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/lyttelton-tunnel/
Find up-to-date information on road conditions, delays and closures at www.nzta.govt.nz/traffic and on the Transport Agency’s
official Twitter and Facebook pages www.nzta.govt.nz/contact-us/connect-with-us/.
For traffic and travel information, you can also call 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49) to speak to the call centre team.