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The Mount St saga

Once upon a time when all the students were away on their Christmas holidays, the City Council decided to advertise a proposed scheme for the closing of Mount Street, ostensibly to facilitate the widening of The Terrace and Salamanca Road. They also decided to direct their notices to 10 foot giants; the public notices were nailed high up the lamp post in Mount Street.

Then they heard the objections but following outraged protests by a few proponents of democracy such as the students association, the Council agreed to re-open objections and hold another hearing.

As you can see from the map, the proposed widenings are part of a long-term plan of widening The Terrace "as development allows,' in the words of one of the City Council employees. The map also shows that the changes do not appear to warrant the closure of Mount Street at all. In fact there are several immediately apparent reasons for keeping Mount Street open. It will still provide valuable parking space, even when some of it is chopped off. It provides access from Waiteata Road that is safer than a direct exit on to the Terrace. It provides emergency access when the mouth of Salamance Road is blocked, as it often is. It also provides pedestrian access.

There appear to be no reasons in favour of the closure to balance against these, so one can only conclude that the Council seems to be taking advantage of the road widening in order to close Mount Street. And I must add here that the road is not destined to become a pedestrian mall when it is closed, but will most likely be sold to neighbouring property owners, as one City Council employee again told Salient.

Why would the Council want to close Mount Street under such a smoke screen? Well it so happens that the 'neighbouring property owners' are Phoenix Holdings Ltd. who own 252,254, 256 The Terrace and I Mount Street. The closure of Mount Street is very convenient for Phoenix Holdings because it means that Mount St will be available for sale and if Phoenix Holdings were to acquire the land occupied by Mount Street they would have a sizable block of land ripe for development into a high-rise appartment block. And as 'The Evening Post' reported, "The company had already discussed proposals for a block of flats on the site."

Nor are Phoenix Holdings just an ordinary property developer. They are a 94% owned subsidiary of Brierley Investments Ltd, one of whose directors is R. Brierley, the well known corporate raider on both sides of the Tasman. Brierley Investments has interests in a large number of companies in NZ and Australia, including NZ Pulping Mills Ltd (84%), Finance Corporation of New Zealand Ltd (96%), the Northern Steamship Company Ltd (91%), Wellington Gas Co Ltd (21%) and NZ Coffee and Spice Co Ltd (100%).

One can only speculate about the kind of housing such a company would erect on the site, but one would think it would be luxury rather than low-cost housing. So far, events have shown an example of property-developers' interests coming before those of local residents, and must be strenuously opposed.

The Students' Association will be presenting submissions to the hearing, but it needs the support of as many individual objectors as possible. Students are a body of people who are affected by the proposal plans, and therefore entitled to object. We ask you to support the Students' Association in its struggle against the corporate monsters, by objecting in writing to the Town Clerk, P.O. Box 2199, Wellington. You may support your objections by speaking at the hearing, but need not do so. (The date is still to be decided, but objections will be accepted immediately.)

— Gerard Couper.