Talking to bus patrons over the last few weeks, I’ve had some interesting feedback. The bus system is generally working well, but there are still suggestions for adjustments and improvements. Island Bay and Johnsonville residents told me that the #1 route seems to get a lot of delays. Miramar residents told me the buses are often too full in the mornings. Owhiro Bay residents want the #29 route extended so that their bus connects into the city going north. A resident in Karori asked why some evening #2 buses can’t take people up into the hilly areas, alternating between the north and south sides, to help elderly residents get home after a night out. Weekend services generally need more thought if they are going to be useful in helping reduce reduce weekend congestion, ( for example, getting older kids to sport)
A recent WCC residents survey showed that up to 44% of residents did not consider bus fares affordable , and this was borne out in the feedback I received. Brooklyn residents pay over $2 to travel a very short distance into town, so many of them actually walk, even though the walk is steep. Others in different areas told me they pay $50 or more each week for their travel, and many families are also paying to send kids to school.
I think we need to do more to make fares affordable for everyone, but particularly families, the disabled, and young people who need to be able to get around the city.
I heard that Melbourne has capped daily and weekly fares and Christchurch is capped at ten trips in 5 days with weekend travel free. There has been some talk about a weekly fare cap for Wellington , and I support this with the proviso that the cap should work well for bus users as well as those using more expensive trains. I also want to see Wellington’s fare zones reduced to two rather than three.
Please feel free to comment or get back to me privately by email: sarah.free@actrix.co.nz
Fare Zone boundaries in Wellington City are quite small, so our bus users can easily pay two or three zones to travel a relatively short distance! As seen from this schematic, you would get a lot further for your one, two or three zones if you were in the Hutt Valley or Porirua.
I would like to see the three fare zones in Wellington reduced to just two, which would help with the affordability of our buses. What do you think?
Greater Wellington Regional Council recently stated their policy position that fares would be charged proportional to distance travelled, but the issue of Wellington City’s smaller fare zones has been formally raised more than once, without any change.
I’m hearing from lots of people that affordability is an issue, so I will certainly be raising this if elected.
I was asked recently what I rated as my four biggest achievements on Council, and this was my reply: (spoiler alert, there are five)
Cycling and Walking Improvements City-Wide: Along with quite a few uphill routes, there’s the Leonie Gill pathway, Evans Bay and Cobham Drive, the upgraded Island Bay cycleway and Town Centre- and connections right through Berhampore, Newtown, Cambridge and Kent Terraces and through to the waterfront. Island Bay is no longer “the cycleway to nowhere”! Also the Hutt Rd and Thorndon Quay cycleways, which will soon connect right out to Petone and beyond.
I’ve been involved right from my arrival on Council, first as a determined advocate and then holding the cycling/walking portfolio from 2016-2022. This triennium, I’ve chaired the Regulatory Processes Committee which has been tasked with approving the actual road changes to make it all happen. Along with this, whenever I had the opportunity, particularly as Deputy Mayor 2019-2022, I staunchly advocated to NZTA to get the Ngauranga to Petone connection and the Cobham crossing done.
Community Facilities: I held this portfolio in my first term and am proud to have led the early engagement and planning work with Northern suburbs communities on the amazing Johnsonville/Waitohi library. Also to see Seatoun Village Hall and Raukawa (in Strathmore) become community centres while I still held the portfolio, and subsequently to have a role in the upgrades to the Strathmore and Berhampore community centres.
Public Transport: Perhaps the buses are why I was even interested in Council initially! In 2014, I submitted to the Regional Council on the affordability of fares and suggested both off-peak fares and affordable transfers, both of which have now happened. Just as an example, back then it could cost over $7 to get from Island Bay to Kilbirnie by bus because of needing to pay two separate fares. This was so tough for people trying to get to local facilities!
Following the 2018 “bustastrophe”, I spent hours advocating to GWRC to improve things for the Eastern suburbs. It was heartbreaking to see the situations some people were in with inconvenient new services and cancelled or late buses. I’m pleased to say things improved, we kept the #18, got better services to Miramar by route-splitting the #2 (thank you Daran Ponter) and increased the timetable to Strathmore. Park, amongst other improvements. But we’ve recently had cutbacks or removals of some services, and one of my reasons for standing for the Regional Council is to make sure our bus services remain convenient, reliable and affordable!
Infrastructure: I worked to get storm water solutions for Kilbirnie and Lyall Bay and raised early on the issue of more investment for our leaky pipes. I’ve also been very vocal about the need for more investment in retaining walls/planting solutions for many of our vulnerable slopes. The sludge treatment plant;- we needed a better solution for sludge unless people wanted to risk another Mt Albert tunnel failure, the landfill filling up prematurely, or to start pumping sludge out to sea via a long outfall! Yes, it’s brave new infrastructure, but commonly used elsewhere in the world. I’m reasonably confident that we’re now advanced in the project to the point where there shouldn’t be more unexpected delays or price shocks
Finally, Residents: I have loved meeting locals and trying to help resolve issues. This work has been interesting and varied – everything from getting a new Miramar/Maupuia sign, tree trimming, leaks, new toilets at the “Helicopter” park, disability parking, helping the local business network with things they’d like to see done, drinking water, fountains, helping out with local beach clean-ups, tree planting.. and more. Its been truly rewarding and its all made a positive difference.
As I am now standing for the Regional Council, it’s timely to reflect on my time at the City Council. Leaving after 12 years is not without a sense of sadness, but it’s also an opportunity to reflect on what’s been achieved. I’ll cover some achievements I’m most proud of in a subsequent post. But before that, I’d like to say some BIG thanks……
- Firstly: Thanks to the Wellington Greens, for believing in me enough to select me as their candidate for the Motukairangi/Eastern Ward back in 2013, even though I didn’t live there! I promised at an early candidate’s meeting that if elected I would move, and so we did- in the February after the election- first to Kilbirnie and then to Strathmore. Thank you to the Rongotai Branch for all the support, great discussions, challenges and practical help. Thanks especially to ex-MPs James Shaw and Sue Kedgley, current MP Julie-Anne Genter, branch leaders Peter Skrzynski and Jane Little and colleagues Iona Pannett and David Lee. Although I subsequently felt I needed to run as an independent, you guys helped shape my thinking in those early days.
- Secondly: Thank you to the voters of the Eastern Ward– for entrusting me with your vote, raising needed issues, giving considered feedback, and just being hugely positive, friendly and generous people. This part of Wellington really is warm and welcoming; diverse, zany and energetic; and its now very much my home.
- Thirdly: Thanks to past governments for investment in Wellington’s cycling and walking infrastructure. Believe it or not, investment in urban cycleways started under John Key’s government and then got a big boost under the following Labour-led governments. Councils don’t have the balance sheets to make impactful change on their own, so government support matters. It’ll be interesting to see how this government ultimately decides to invest for the future- and I will put in a plug- if there is to be a new Mt Victoria tunnel, it must have come with much improved walking and cycling facilities! Investment in water infrastructure and help with earthquake strengthening for the city wouldn’t go amiss either.
- Fourthly: Thanks to the amazing staff within Council. Our staff have high integrity and professionalism and work really hard to answer our questions and deliver on the direction elected members have set through the democratic process. It has pained me the way some staff have been referred to in the media.
- Finally, Thanks to my colleagues, because the sooner you realise you don’t get anything done by yourself in politics the more you will achieve. I have been privileged to have worked with some great colleagues, some more closely than others, but I can honestly say I have appreciated them all for different reasons at various times. My ward colleagues have been stand-outs, all of them. Thank you in particular to Chris Calvi-Freeman for his support in delivering the cycleway projects- Chris was the one who fought to get extra budget so we could extend the sea wall around Pt Jerningham and deliver a world-class result on the Evans Bay cycleway- and of course I’ll always have a special regard for ex-colleague Andy Foster for whom I was Deputy Mayor.
Newsflash, After much consideration, I’ve decided to run for the Regional Council in the October 2025 election.
Wellington needs a strong champion to get value for our regional rates dollars, achieve greater transparency on who pays and who benefits- and to ensure we keep a world-class affordable, convenient and comprehensive bus network.
Following the 2018 “bustrastrophe”, as a WCC councillor, I advocated tirelessly to the Regional Council for fixes to services, particularly for residents in the Motukairangi/Eastern ward (who were profoundly impacted). It worked- and we had significant improvements, so much so that the #2 service is now the number one most used bus service in Wellington. However, I can still see room for improvements and some innovative and low- cost ideas for real change. For example, see my previous post on free passage through the bus tunnel for walkers to and from Hataitai and Mt Victoria.
Other important work I would champion if elected would be targeted investment to lift the water quality in our streams and oceans, and more effective weed management.
I will be posting more about this, so stay tuned!
There is no doubt we have been through a difficult time with our water infrastructure. My view is that generally aging infrastructure combined with damage from the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake accelerated breakages, and repairing this is not helped by a diminished workforce at Wellington Water (they are currently down one third of their staff).
In retrospect, previous Councils have not invested enough – but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Our current Council has certainly sought to make up for this – we are already fixing many pipes and have put aside 2.3 Billion over 10 years for further improvements.
In my time, as a local councillor-I have pushed for storm water upgrades for Queens Drive and Rua Street (2016), storm water upgrades in Kilbirnie (2017) and renewing the storm water outfall to sea as part of the Cobham Drive cycleway/walkway installation in 2019. We were also promised upgrades of the pipes to Miramar as part of any development at Shelly Bay.
We’ve made major investments in the sewerage network with the upgrade of rising mains in Bowen, Whitmore and Featherston Streets, a new Dixon Street pump station and rising main as well as repairs to the main interceptor pipe out to Moa Point. Wellington Water are currently working on building additional resilience into the CBD sewerage system with a second pump station and rising main under Taranaki Street and a new connection to that main under Wakefield Street from Kent Terrace.
We’re also planning a sludge drying plant so that rather than the 24 truckloads of “sludge” we saw when the Mt Albert tunnel was damaged, we will only have 1 truckload of dried pellets. This will really reduce the volume we are sending to landfill and help us look at other waste reduction to extend the life of our landfill. (At the moment, we need to mix 4 parts of ordinary waste with each part of sludge for stabilisation- the requirement to do this will disappear once we have the dried product).
It’s worth mentioning too that we have now nearly finished building the massive new Omaroro reservoir which will provide a secure water supply for the hospital and back up for water to the southern and eastern suburbs, as well as putting in a city-wide network of community water storage tanks (at schools and the like) for emergency resilience. The photo below shows some current councillors on a visit to the Omaroro site in March 2021 just prior to the concrete base being poured.
While out door-knocking I’ve picked up a lot of concern about our water infrastructure, but also that residents don’t know what is being done to fix this. I hope this post helps. As always, please feel free to comment or contact me if you would like further information. Email sarah.free@actrix.co.nz or phone 022 121 6412
I placed an ad with Regional News this week, but to be honest, I’ve had no feedback at all that people have seen it. ( Let me know if you have!) Anyway here is my pitch:
Vote #1 Sarah Free for Motukairangi/Eastern Ward
As Deputy Mayor, I’ve worked constructively with others to get things done.
Despite challenges, we’re fixing broken pipes and important buildings such as the Town Hall and Central Library. We’re completing the Omaroro reservoir and Takina convention centre.
Let’s Get Wellington Moving is finally moving, with a second tunnel and significant city-wide improvements in public transport, walking and cycling planned- allowing more housing and climate-friendly transport choices for us all.
We must continue to protect our stunning natural environment, but our biggest strength is people. We need a safe, vibrant CBD and thriving suburban businesses. We need to ensure the city works for everyone and residents feel heard.
Locally, I’m proud to have led on new cycleways and walkways for the East including at Oriental Bay and Cobham Drive. I’ve worked with GWRC colleagues to improve our bus network, advocated for bus lanes and shelters, for a plan to fix our wharves and for upgrades to several playgrounds and community facilities.
My focus is on improving transport options, resilient infrastructure, thriving businesses and communities, and clear priorities for spending.
The times are not easy- now more than ever we need experienced, capable, responsive leadership. Please support me with your #1 vote.
I’m shown here welcoming the new toilet facilities and drinking fountain at Monorgan Park play area with Strathmore Park Residents Association President Karl Frost ( thanks to Karl for permission to use this photo).
This election, more than ever needs to be about spending priorities- how to provide the infrastructure renewals and upgrades we need to build an inclusive and liveable city fit for the future- while managing the pressures on rates and general affordability.
The flyer with my priorities is below. As always, super keen to have feedback, and am happy to call or visit residents in the ward. Email sarah.free@actrix.co.nz or call 022 121 6412
We are so fortunate to have some excellent eateries and cafes in the eastern suburbs and on Sunday I popped into Nicoletta’s Bakery- a small cafe and bakery on Park Road I’d never tried before. Have to say the atmosphere was lovely, and their apple and cinnamon cake was to die for. Light and yet moist, with a clear cinnamon and apple flavour and a hint of crunchy sugar on the crust. Just what was needed as a pick-me-up after an afternoon of chatting and door-knocking!
It’s been a difficult three years for Council, Wellington- and indeed the entire country and beyond.
Following the 2016 earthquake, it became increasingly obvious that Wellington’s pipes-already decades old- were starting to leak and break with increasing frequency. To add to that, the Kaikoura earthquake had thrown up new engineering issues with relatively new buildings using hollow-core technology, which meant many important buildings such as the Central Library were now unsafe for public use. Climate change meant that we were dealing with more frequent and damaging storms and heavy weather events. As well as trying to plan to better manage these impacts, we needed to plan for a growing population while lowering our carbon footprint as a city. And on top of it all, we had the Covid pandemic, the effects of which we are all still dealing with.
It’s probably not surprising that with such a lot of big issues to grapple with and diverse views around the table, that we did have robust debate and clashes at times. As Deputy Mayor, my role was often challenging, but I will say that we have got through an unprecedented programme of work to move the city forward and made good decisions in that process. I would also like to pay tribute to Mayor Andy Foster. After a difficult start, he has shown he can lead a Council with very strong and diverse views, which are not always aligned with his. He has done this with patience, dignity and respect. He has a strong intellect and is always over the issues. I’m proud of the way he has engaged with stakeholders city-wide, built strong relationships with our government and Mana Whenua partners and looked after our diplomatic community. I think he will only build on these strengths and voters could do a lot worse than to vote him in for a second term.
As for myself, after some thought, I will be standing again in the Motukairangi/Eastern Ward. Much has been achieved: fixing Seatoun wharf and a plan for other wharves, the Cobham Drive and Evan’s Bay cycleway and walkway, upgrading the Kilbirnie and Strathmore Park community centres, traffic calming and planting for the Hataitai village, a new sand court at Hataitai courts, and improvements to many parks and playgrounds-amongst many other things. However, there are still some very big issues that need to be addressed, including big picture transport solutions, and how best to deal with growth, climate change and looking after our people in a complex and rapidly changing world. I’ll hopefully be saying more about all of this in future posts.
If you have any thoughts, questions or would just like to chat, please do feel free to contact me.
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Sarah Free 