Motorway through your house

I was at yoga (again!) last night and missed the TV news so only heard on the radio this morning through my blurry sleepy brain that plans are afoot to build a coastal motorway right through a home belonging to our family at Paekakariki! I must say I’ve not been active in my opinion of previous plans for Transmission Gully or the urban motorway changes near where we live in Wellington – it’s that old fence-sitter attitude where the fire inside doesn’t start until direct effects are felt. And the fire has started!

The Fisherman’s Table Restaurant on the coast at Paekakariki and the houses occupying the same land are to be bought and presumably bulldozed to build the 4-lane motorway. Regardless of how much money home-owners may get for their properties, that spot is a very rare find so close to Wellington and the family we have living there just love it and want to retire there so how can they face finding something equally as good? On that same block of land someone has only just finished building a huge 4 million dollar house – they must feel devastated.

The Council are calling for submissions and in such cases I’m not sure what anyone can say that will change their mind so we need to get used to it being a reality. It’s unclear when they might purchase affected properties and the motorway is 20 years away from being complete.

Plan and submission form are available from Greater Wellington Regional Council.