It was only a matter of hours prior to my being informed that a presentation by Wellington Airport was to take place before a Council meeting on Tuesday 4th August, 2015. The topic was a (long overdue!) update on progress relating to the Airport Extension Runway – which the Council had paid almost $3m for.ContinueContinue reading “Stan Andis: Wellington Airport Comes to Town”
Category Archives: Blog Post
Monthy Python & the Wellington Runway Extension: Someone should trophy hunt this white elephant
The bumbling shambles that is the Wellington International Airport and Wellington City Council’s pipe dream for an airport expansion rolls on with more misinformation and lack of co-ordination by the various parties no doubt costing us millions of dollars with absolutely nothing to show for it but a report that says we shouldn’t go there.ContinueContinue reading “Monthy Python & the Wellington Runway Extension: Someone should trophy hunt this white elephant”
Long Term Plan Optimism Bias, more Propaganda, and another Consultation Shambles
The Council isn’t known for its accuracy with figures. They are a bit of a movable feast, as is time, and other elements. So when the Mayor sent out a press release yesterday on the statistics around the Long Term Plan (LTP) and how awesome it has been, with actual statistics, I thought “doesn’t lookContinueContinue reading “Long Term Plan Optimism Bias, more Propaganda, and another Consultation Shambles”
Keeping the Council and the Airport honest, or will Tangaroa have the last word anyway?
Over the last couple of months two important developments occurred regarding the proposed Wellington Airport Runway Extension: Its $90m co-funding by Council found its way into the LTP – despite significant opposition against it, but with some very important caveats Nature has shown us on several occasions just how insane the proposal is to putContinueContinue reading “Keeping the Council and the Airport honest, or will Tangaroa have the last word anyway?”
Keith Johnson: Lavery and Wade-Brown Toggle the Joystick
An excellent blog from Keith Johnson in which holes are found in assumptions around rates rises. I too had much difficulty in finding out what the actual rate rises were going to be. Of the handful of Councillors I polled only one could definitively explain it to me, two were “pretty sure” it was slightlyContinueContinue reading “Keith Johnson: Lavery and Wade-Brown Toggle the Joystick”
Helene Ritchie: Runaway rates for vanity projects (Opinion)
“Wellington City Council’s rates hike at 6.1% is too high. Priorities are skewed in the wrong direction towards vanity projects for political expediency, and disproportionate “growth-economic” funds and projects. The result: cuts and deliberately delayed spending on essential infrastructure eg. to prevent flooding around the Basin Reserve and Medical Centre) or to strengthen the Capital’sContinueContinue reading “Helene Ritchie: Runaway rates for vanity projects (Opinion)”
The Council has its head is in the sand over sea surges
All the locals new it was coming. Sunday dawned bright and early and I was writing the first blog of the week I could see the salt spray drifting across the airport. A quick check showed that a massive storm system was sending waves north, coupled with a high-tide, was always going to result inContinueContinue reading “The Council has its head is in the sand over sea surges”
That Airport Extension: More optimism bias, less facts and is the extension enough for long-haul planes to land?
A corporate finance partner at Deloitte writes in the Dominion Post this week a rhetorical question to which they clearly think they know the answer. “Should Wellington consider an extension to its runway?” What is interesting about this is that the opinion shows further optimism bias coupled with some facts that are incorrect and theContinueContinue reading “That Airport Extension: More optimism bias, less facts and is the extension enough for long-haul planes to land?”
Whoops: Should the Mayor and Deputy Mayor be able to vote on any future Airport Extension Proposal?
Yesterday’s brief blog has broken all records at Strathmore Park, peaking at nearly two thousand views an hour it has had thousands of you reading. Some of you have pointed out to me what you think is a breach of Council rules, particularly by the Deputy Mayor, and asked if both he, and the Mayor,ContinueContinue reading “Whoops: Should the Mayor and Deputy Mayor be able to vote on any future Airport Extension Proposal?”
Why Air New Zealand and other Airlines will never use a longer Wellington runway
So far missed by the local media an interview this morning was a Radio NZ piece talking to the CEO of Air New Zealand. While Air New Zealand didn’t explicitly rule out flying long haul routes from here, the evidence was absolutely damning. One thing is for sure, you could build an airport extension asContinueContinue reading “Why Air New Zealand and other Airlines will never use a longer Wellington runway”
Guardians of the Bays 