Hot debate over J’ville train

By Frank Neill

Is the Johnsonville train line a rapid transit service?

This was a hotly debated question during hearings on Wellington City Council’s District Plan.

If the train line is a rapid transport service that means housing of up to six storeys high can be developed within walking distance of train stations on the Johnsonville line.

The Onslow Community Residents Association was among those who submitted that the train is not rapid transport.

On the other hand, other submissions said that it was rapid transport and that more housing was needed in the areas served by the Johnsonville train.

Greater Wellington Regional Council, which operates the Johnsonville train, classifies it as rapid transport. Wellington City Council officials agreed. However the council’s Planning and Environment Committee voted that the line was not a rapid transit service on 23 June last year.

The Johnsonville train line was not, in his view, a rapid transport service, the President of the Onslow Residents’ Community Association, Lawrence Collingbourne told the “Independent Herald”.

“A single-track railway can never be a rapid transit service, let alone one perched on the side of a precipice, that squeals its way slowly up and down steep gradients, around tight corners and through many narrow tunnels,” he said.

The fact that most of the line was single track restricted the number of trains that could travel to a maximum of one train every 15 minutes.

[Currently there is one train every 15 minutes during peak hours, and one every 30 minutes during day time off peak times, down to one every hour at night.]

“We have had six public meetings and they have all been overwhelmingly against six-story development and calling the rail line a rapid transport system,” he said.

“The railway line does not have the capacity to meet the transport needs of the community if council allows six-storey development.

“It will force people into using their cars.”

Allowing six-storey developments within walking distance of the Johnsonville line, especially in the Khandallah town centre, was “counterproductive to the national policy on over-development.

“We just want the proper government standard to apply.”

“I want to stress that we are not against progress and densification,” Mr Collingbourne said in his submission to the council.

“We just want it to be propor- tionate to need and to respect the amenity and character that the multi-generational families of our suburbs have created.”

Some submitters came out in favour of designating the Johnsonville line as a rapid transport service.

All stations on the Johnsonville rail line should be included as “rapid transit stops” and that building heights of at least six storeys within a 10-minute walkable catchment of the stations should be provided, Joe Jeffries said in his submission on behalf of Stride Investment Management Limited.

“The NPS-UD [national policy statement on urban development] defines ‘rapid transit service’ as ‘any existing or planned frequent, quick, reliable and high-capacity public transport service that operates on a permanent route (road or rail) that is largely separated from other traffic’.

“The Johnsonville rail line meets this definition for many reasons, including as its peak frequency is 15 minutes and it is identified as planned rapid transit in the Wellington Regional Land Transport Plan 2021,” the submission said.

“Greater Wellington Regional Council have [sic] classified the Johnsonville rail line as rapid transit for the purposes of implementing policy 3 of the NPS-UD and has commented: ‘when considering the Johnsonville Line as part of the region’s transport network, it is almost uniquely placed to play a future significant role. It is a sole use public transport corridor and one that is not being used to its full potential’.

“The Wellington Regional Growth Framework also identifies that the Johnsonville rail line is a rapid transit service.

“It is unclear why Wellington City Council have taken a different view.

“We note Wellington City Council was advised by its own planning staff to include the line as rapid transit,” Mr Jeffries’ submission said.

Hearings of submissions on the Wellington City Council District Plan will continue for some months yet.

Staying Safe class

A “Staying Safe” class for older drivers will be held at the Khandallah Community Centre from 10am to 2pm on 15 March.

Lunch is provided at the session, which is run by Age Concern in partnership with Waka Kotahi/New Zealand Transport Agency.

Staying Safe is a free classroom-based refresher workshop for senior road users. People need to register, and can do this at https://www.acwellington. org.nz/events/staying-safe/.

Women’s empowerment

A Women’s Empowerment Workshop will be held at the Johnsonville Collective Community Hub, 33 Johnsonville Road from 2pm to 4pm on 4 March. Entry to the workshop, run by the Multicultural Council of Wellington, is free.

The event will also celebrate International Women’s Day, and is supported by Wellington City Council.