Submission to PCC Long Term PlanApril, 2015

Who is Mana Cycle Group (MCG)• Group lobbying PCC to develop mountain bike (MTB)

opportunities since the mid 2000s.

• General cycling advocacy role.

• Incorporated Club with full Charitable Status, run by highly experienced professionals donating volunteer time.

• 460+ Facebook Followers

• Has a management agreement with DOC for trail development in Colonial Knob Scenic Reserve

• Has a partnership agreement in drafting stage with Ngati Toa covering park and individual trail naming.

• Has almost agreed an MoU with PCC.

• Member of Cycling NZ providing liability insurance for trail and event activity.

MCG has proven reliability during 2014-15

• PCC’s $40k for MTB trails has been more than doubled in cash. (leveraged to a total $110k)

• Despite having to cease new trail building for a year, 1,000+ man-hours ($20k+) have been contributed, including trail investigation, upgrading Raiha Walkway and resource consent development.

• Planted 750 trees for hill stabilisation and native revegetation.

• Installed and monitored 44 pest traps, coordinated BNZ weed control day.

• MCG’s credibility and relationship building has been the driver in engagement of Ngati Toa and DOC in the Rangituhi Trail Park project.

Submission Key Points1. MCG supports PCCs proposed new emphasis on engaging Children and Young

People but there is little in the plan to bring tangible meaning to this concept.

2. Rangituhi Trail Park (Colonial Knob) is a game changer for Porirua. It is the single-most cost effective initiative to enhance Porirua as a place to live, visit, study, invest and work, for ALL age groups. This will create a new community asset for future generations with modest maintenance requirement. This should be a priority project in the LTP with adequate funding.

3. The LTP does not set out an exciting vision for the way cycling and other active transport infrastructure will support community outcomes and stop Porirua falling further behind other cities. We re-submit our November 2014 LTP paper which details how we think PCC should address a robust cycling strategy. Paremata-CBD and Onepoto-CBD should be TOP priority for pathway investment. Work on these must be brought forward in the LTP.

4. MCG supports the $4m investment in Whitford Brown intersection improvements provided this includes a safe, lead practice cycling connection from PapakowhaiRd to Okowai Rd as part of the Paremata-CBD cycling route.

Trail Park development at Rangituhi/Colonial Knob should be a priority project in the LTP

• The LTP only has $40k annual funding reducing to $20k in five years with zero funding from year 6 of the 10 year plan.

• MCG has invested many hours engaging with PCC during 2014/15 to try to develop an implementation plan and budgets for a 10 year MTB park vision. We have been clear that $40k per annum is insufficient. The meagre LTP funding is a complete surprise and disappointment to MCG. It shows no serious commitment to partnership by PCC.

• Required funding is no surprise to PCC, MCG has communicated it for several years.

• In April 2013 MCG produced a MTB Park plan with a $300-$400k investment requirement.

• In February 2014 we presented to PCC Te Komiti seeking $100k in year one and $70k per annum ongoing. This was based on Makara Peak and Wainuiomata MTB park cases.

• The $40k for MCG is only a fraction of PCC’s 2015/16 funding of the following projects:– 21% of the $190k for Bothamley Park,

– 18% of the $228k for Te Ara Piko,

– 8% of the $500k for the Splash Pad;

The ROI on a quality MTB park, in community, economic and external profile building benefits, justifies at least equivalent funding priority.

• It is fiscally irresponsible to sit on a 6 year old investment of $1.3m in Colonial Knob Parklands, without realising the opportunity provide increased community use.

MTB is serious business.Queenstown MTB Club’s t-shirt summarises how

MTB has created a valuable new visitor

attraction industry for this already successful ski

destination.

Rotorua’s trails have been credited with generating

$10m p.a. in benefit, more than 4x the timber

value from the forest resource.

MTB is one of the region’s highest participation activities. Consider the PCC’s investment in assets for

these other sports and the cost per particpant.

Numerous North American studies on http://headwaterseconomics.org/trail

show that:

• Trails can generate business impacts and create new jobs by attracting visitors, especially overnight visitors.

• Local trail users often use community trails multiple times per week, and trails are a valuable part of residents’ quality of life.

• Trails are often associated with higher property value, especially when a trail is designed to provide neighbourhood access.

• Trails are associated with increased physical activity and improved public health.

Other Benefits• New resource for low income communities. Even for those families that

can’t afford a $50 second hand bike, much of the new trail network is also for walking and running. This is on the doorstep for Elsdon/Takapuwahiaresidents and a small bus fare from Porirua East.

• Increase community engagement in ecological restoration of the Western Green Belt reserves and parklands. The existing trails are steep and not built to sustainable standards. By building sustainable, very easy trails this will open access for a much larger proportion of the community. If they can experience the bush first hand they will begin to value it more. When they value it more they will help us with restoration projects.

• New resource for other sporting codes to use as cross-training. Rangituhi Trail Park will be increasingly used by other codes such as rugby, football, league, hockey, netball for their fitness training.

MTB Benefits Comparison

Rangituhi Trail Park Splashpad

More outdoor fun for local kids Yes Yes

Useable year-round? Yes for walking. Biking excluded a few dayspost heavy rain events

No. 1/3 of the year less inclement summer weather days (estimate further 1/3 reduction)

Attract visitors from within the region yes yes

Attract Domestic visitors Yes No. Some will use the splashpad if coming anyway but not a key reason to visit

Attract international visitors Yes No. A very few will use if coming anyway

Adds vibrancy to City Centre? Yes, people will ride from city bike shops and the station into the trail park. Those driving pass through the city and many will stop.

No. Disconnected from CBD and too easy for visitors to come and go to Aotea Lagoon without going to the city or any Porirua businesses.

Appeals to youth? Yes, All age groups, particularly youth No. Primarily <=10 and their parents

Unique in the region? MTB parks not unique but the proportion of easy trails will be unique and the 10km “Big Easy” trail will be unique in NZ.

No, 20 minutes to Raumati with more open weather days, and soon Otaki. Kilbirnie has a bigger splash area year-round indoors.

Likely to achieve external media coverage?

Yes, it will host specialist media generating print, TV and global social media profile.

Limited. A few local stories in year 1. Some local-local and local to family/friends social media.

Funding model and leverage Major volunteer resourcing.<50% ratepayer funded

100% Debt funded by ratepayers

Operating cost/Ongoing maintenance Estimate $70k per annum maintenance once fully established.

Not identified in LTP. Significant operating cost in water, electricity and servicing. Add depreciation 10 years renewal? $50k p.a.

MCG can see the appeal of a splash pad and we are not lobbying against it. We just want to see robust strategic thinking on PCC’s investment against genuine outcomes and see appropriate commitment to the trail park.

MTB Benefits Comparison (Cont’d)

Rangituhi Trail Park Splashpad

Creates new educational resource? Yes. Serves as additional school PE and adventure education facility.Enables MTB trail development skills programmes.

No. It will slightly alter school trips which already go to Aotea lagoon and playground

Generates new community biodiversity contribution?

Yes. MCG uses trail interest to engage community in planting, weed and pest control.

No

Community interest legacy 10 years of lobbying. Generated the highest number of individual submissions in support in annual planning 2014, higher than the number submissions against rates increases.

Someone proposed it in the last annual plan round because they liked the one in Raumati. A petition raised multiple signatures but the number of individual submissions was low. The community has been given no information on the business case.

MCG can see the appeal of a splash pad and we are not lobbying against it. We just want to see robust strategic thinking on PCC’s investment against genuine outcomes and see appropriate commitment to the trail park.

Other Porirua Cycling Investments• Develop a comprehensive cycling strategy including:

– robust demand/trend data such as battery powered bikes creating a step-change in commuting.

– listing the various pathway and other cycling investment opportunities– Applying clear criteria to establish prioritisation of investment.

• Consider cycle commuting infrastructure separately from recreational pathway investment.

• Move forward investment in the Onepoto-Wineera pathway.• Start investigating and designing improvements to Paremata-CBD in 2015/16.

(Regardless of what happens to SH1 when Transmission Gully opens, the route along Paremata Road will need addressing. Any option on the harbour side of the current SH1 will not have the necessary connections to the communities, schools and facilities in Papakowhai-Aotea.)

• Develop Bothamley Pathway as a commutable connection from Whitby to the CBD• Proactively support local village and school-based bike skills development facilities

within the above city strategic framework. Ascot Park Village Plan and Gareth VarleyBike Park is a key example.

• Improve cycling connections in and around the CBD, especially the Railway station to Raiha Walkway.

• Actively encourage developers to provide functional intra and inter-suburban connections using both off-road pathways and singletrack MTB trails. (Rather than placing impractically steep paths on unusable reserve land).

Cycleway Priorities

Money needed to join up main populations, schools and CBD

This is where most of the money has gone/is going

Sport NZ Active NZ Survey

Cycling is in the top five activities that participants did, were most interested in doing and were most interested in trying.

All of these decreased except Cycling and Jogging/Running

Biggest Increase.Men +1.5%Women +4.4%

The LTP sets no exciting vision for cycling. This is buried in the draft

2015-2045 Infrastructure Strategy:

More people could be walking and cycling in the future, both for exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle and as an inexpensive and convenient form of transport. The popularity of the city’s walkways and cycleways is likely to continue and this network is likely to continue to slowly expand and improve.

It should say something like:

Based on recent SportNZ data and developments in innovative cities globally, cycling will continue to grow and remain in the top five recreational activities. PCC will support this growth in demand through proactive investment to improve the connectivity and safety of the city’s cycling routes.

MTB and Cycling supporting PCC’s Strategic Priorities

The LTP contains 4 strategic priorities:

• Children and young people at the centre of city decisions

• A growing, prosperous and regionally connected city

• A great village and city experience

• A healthy and protected harbour and catchment

The next slides outline how proactive development of MTB and other cycling opportunities helps PCC and the community deliver on these priorities.

Children and young people at the centre of city decisions

• Get them off their screens!!! We need more healthy, fun reasons for kids to get off their screens and do physical activity with their friends and families.

• You don’t have to own a bike to use planned trails. Multi use for runners, walkers, other sport cross-training.

• Create a greater number of active sports people and champions (direct from LTP, MTB is an Olympic sport)

• Creates a new venue for interschool events.

• Creates new education resource (Studying PE, Adventure Management, Science, related to riding and trail design.)

• Engaging Biodiversity work – (planting, weeding, pest control)

A growing, prosperous and regionally connected city

• $21m for in CBD enhancement is a start but it will change little unless there are more compelling reasons to go to the city centre and there is visible activity around it. Rangituhi Trail Park will create a vibrant visitor and community attraction, connected to the CBD by the Raiha Walkway.

• Rod Drury (Xero) and Sam Morgan (TradeMe) have both stated that the MTB trails on the edge of Wellington City are a key talent attractant for their businesses. MCG is creating a new hook for Porirua businesses to attract skilled workers and managers, especially those in Kenepuru/Elsdon.

• Rangituhi Trail Park has the potential to be the single most valuable project for the region in terms of positive external publicity. It is a game changer.

• Cycleways are one of the city connections which need urgent improvement.

A great village and city experience

• In addition to the above points…

• Rangituhi Trail Park will attract new events for the city. Port Nicholson Poneke MTB has already scheduled a new event for spring 2015. Wellington MTB Club wants to work with MCG to develop a national standard downhill MTB host venue. Porirua Grand Traverse needs our proposed trails through Porirua Scenic Reserve in order to survive.

• This will be New Zealand’s closest comprehensive MTB trail network to a commuter rail station. We will see pre-license teenagers from throughout the region bring their bikes on the train and ride through the city to the trail park.

• Most of Porirua’s Village Plans propose improved cycleways and cycling facilities. PCC needs to support more initiatives like the Titahi Bay bikes-in-schools project. Wellington City Council is supporting several of these.

A healthy & protected harbour & catchment• MCG is the main organisation engaging the community in re-establishing native

vegetation and improving the biodiversity in Colonial Knob Parklands. This will stabilise slipping zones and improve vegetation cover.

• This will re-connect the Western Green Belt (Porirua and Colonial Knob Scenic Reserves are not contiguous).

• Several existing walking trails in the scenic reserves are poorly built and run through stream beds. These will be replaced or upgraded where possible.

• MTB Trails are built to strict sustainability guidelines to minimise erosion, maintenance costs and siltation reaching the harbour.

Native planting, Colonial Knob ParklandsMCG coordinated BNZ Closed-For-Good volunteers to help remove Tradescantiaweed from Colonial Knob Scenic Reserve with DOC.

Summing Up

1. Rangituhi Trail Park (MTB) will be a game changerfor Porirua. Recognise this in the LTP and resourcethe partnership with MCG, DOC and Ngati Toaadequately.

2. Set a bolder vision for much safer cyclingconnections for commuting and recreation.Develop a robust evidence-based strategy prioritiseinvestment, starting with connecting the CBD toParemata, Titahi Bay and Whitby.