The National Government must rule out KiwiRail’s proposal to replace electric with new diesel trains on the Main Trunk Line, the Green Party said today. KiwiRail is proposing to replace electric trains with more diesel-powered engines in a cost-saving plan to buy a dozen more diesel locomotives from China rather than refurbish or replace the electric units. The move will also put hundreds of jobs at risk. “The Government must ensure the massive investment in rail electrification is protected and...

Bringing forward the start date on the Puhoi to Wellsford motorway will not help Northland or the rest of country that will have to pay for it, the Green Party said today. National’s Northland candidate Mark Osborne announced the Government’s intention to start construction on the low value Puhoi to Warkworth motorway project next year in a bid to influence the outcome of the Northland by-election. “Building the Puhoi motorway sooner doesn't stop it being a waste of money,” says...

The Waitemata Harbour tunnel idea announced today by Transport Minister Simon Bridges doesn’t make sense unless the City Rail Link is built first, the Green Party said. “The Government is trying to sugar coat this tunnel announcement by saying it can include rail, but rail to the North Shore won’t work until Britomart is expanded for the City Rail Link,” Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said. “The City Rail link should be the number one transport priority in...

The removal of protection for urban trees by the Government is threatening a 500-year-old kauri tree, and is just the thin end of the wedge if the Government is to gut the Resource Management Act (RMA) further, the Green Party said today. “When it’s ok for one of our oldest and most treasured trees to be chopped down to maximise profit, and allowed under the latest changes to the RMA, there’s something very wrong here. Environmental protection in our legislation...

The Government needs to beef up the monitoring of a harmful airborne particle in order to protect New Zealanders’ health, the Green Party said today. The call follows today’s release of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s "The State of Air Quality in New Zealand" report. Among recommendations made by Commissioner Dr Jan Wright was a call for the Ministry for the Environment to include monitoring and reporting of the potentially fatal airborne particle PM2.5. Main sources of PM2.5 in...

Today’s announcement that construction work on the City Rail Link will begin this year is a further sign that the Government needs to get on board with immediate funding, the Green Party said today. “While today’s construction announcement is a positive step, if the Government continues to delay funding the people of Auckland will be waiting another decade for decent train services,” said Green Party Transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. “Auckland rail patronage has grown 20 percent in the year...

The urban cycling infrastructure projects announced today are not enough to prevent costly injuries to cyclists and encourage commuters and school children to cycle, the Green Party said today. Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said “The projects announced today are small steps in the right direction but the government’s own advice is that much more must be done to make cycling safer.” Documents released to the Green Party under the Official Information Act show that while the Ministry...

The National Government is misusing evidence provided in the Motu report on planning rules to justify gutting the environmental protections secured by the Resource Management Act (RMA), says the Green Party today. The Motu group’s research into the impacts of planning rules looked at the costs related to housing development but not the benefits of environmental protections and does not recommend significant changes to the RMA to reduce the cost of new house builds. “Environment Minister Nick Smith is misusing...

The National Government must stop using the Resource Management Act as the straw manfor its own failure to build more homes and put an end to the country’s housing crisis, the Green Party says. Today, Environment Minister Nick Smith announced the first tranche of plans to weaken the RMA saying that it was ‘crucial’ to addressing housing supply and affordability. However, property developers and planners today said the Act isn’t standing in their way. “Changing the RMA won’t build a...

A survey showing that only a tiny fraction of resource consent applications are declined makes a nonsense of the Government’s claims that the Resource Management Act is getting in the way of housing development, the Green Party says.