Our Work
We are determined to demonstrate that we can use a whole-society approach to make inter-regional passenger rail work in New Zealand's Golden Triangle.
Our original report proposed a range of ideas that have been used in other countries to successfully deliver major capital projects. Making Rail Work focussed specifically on the benefits of applying these approaches to New Zealand’s Golden Triangle.
Our Ambitions
Please click on the summary title to see more information about each issue area and our proposed solutions.
Inter-regional passenger rail can be used as a catalyst for attracting international investment, create land-value capture opportunities, and reduce the risks associated with debt financing.
New hubs and mixed-use developments can be used to increase high-quality alternative housing options. Creating rail-centric communities reduces the cost of living and makes home ownership more affordable.
Our Development Cooperative approach combines the Development Corporation and Co-operative business models. Together they create public, private and community confidence in multi-generational projects.
Rail-centric living is accessible to all. Those who cannot drive, due to disability or disadvantage, can contribute to society. Older generations can move around more freely, which improves end-of-life health outcomes.
Our approach can be applied on the back of freight rail investment, putting freight first. It will also allow time for other public and private transport options to be shaped around new station hubs.
Once installed, passenger rail is significantly better for the environment than urban sprawl and private car use. The principles of reconomics and relocalisation, also increases climate-friendly retail footfall.
Economy
Project Ambitions
We aimed to demonstrate that inter-regional passenger rail can be used as a catalyst to attract international investment, create land-value capture opportunities, and reduce the risks associated with debt financing.
Proposition
The announcement of a capital spend project of this nature has multiple benefits that start to take effect immediately. Not only would the announcement of inter-regional passenger rail create confidence in financial markets, it also allows organisations that wish to invest in New Zealand time to plan and negotiate.
The objectives and parameters set out for inward investment can be designed to ensure local needs are prioritised. Long-term target setting can be coordinated across regions and between cities, and central government investment can be streamlined to reduce administrative costs and increase local impact.
Domestic and commercial property owners can also benefit, and local authorities are able to manage debt financing strategies more transparently and confidently.
Governance
Project Ambitions
Our Development Cooperative approach combines the Development Corporation and Co-operative business models. Together they create public, private and community confidence in multi-generational projects.
Proposition
We proposed combining a ‘top-down’ development corporation model with a ‘community-up’ cooperative model. This will create a delivery organisation that legally incorporates public consultation, and meets the standards expected of true participation democracy.
The Development Cooperative can be set up quickly using seconded staff from government departments and local councils. It should be set up with a delivery lifespan, which could be reviewed if it demonstrates it would benefit delivery elsewhere in the country.
Like all cooperatives, every member has an equal vote, weather you represent a major overseas investor, or if you are a local resident in a rental property. This means that the strategic management of development assets, including how they are on-sold would be Kiwi-owned.
Transport
Project Ambitions
Our approach can be applied on the back of freight rail investment, putting freight first. It will also allow for other public and private transport options time to be shaped around new station hubs.
Proposition
Rail investment is already being made in the Golden Triangle to enhance freight movement between the ports. The cost of enabling the line for passenger rail at the same time is small by comparison to the investment required in other parts of the country.
Given it has already been accepted that the line has the capacity to take both freight and passenger rail, it would be foolish not to futureproof the line for interregional passenger rail. Identifying potential stations on the line of route to Tauranga will also allow those towns and cities time to plan their public transport options around the station hubs.
Road and vehicle strategies that are rightly being prioritised at the moment will also have time to ensure they are properly integrated with future rail plans.
Housing
Priorities
Proposition
The cost of living crisis and New Zealand’s pathway to home ownership are two problems that are intrinsically linked. Poor urban design and lax planning laws means that utilities and public infrastructure will never be able to catch up with urban sprawl.
Rushing the development of multi-dwelling housing complexes is also not the long-term solution to this problem. Inter-regional passenger rail is not the obvious solution to either of these problems but it does offer the opportunity to consider alternative ways of living.
Rail station hubs can provide car-free living options for the thousands of Kiwis who are actively seeking to own their own home. Multi-level dwellings are also easier to flood-proof and provide shared ownership options that can turn reluctant renters into partial home owners.
Social Equity
Priorities
Proposition
The ‘politics of mobility’ is a doctrine of belief that if your population is mobile and can move around your country with ease, then your micro-economies will be continually invigorated, allowing macro economies to function with more confidence.
In the same ways a country’s economy doubles when women are allowed equal rights to men, by doubling earning potential and taxable spending, New Zealand can stabilise and expand its economy by enabling and empowering those who cannot or chose not to drive.
It is also medically proven that retired and disabled communities benefit from increased social mobility. They are also high and consistent spenders when it comes to domestic tourism. Providing off-peak travel subsidies would also improve their quality of life, care options, and decrease pressure on the health system.
Climate Change
Priorities
Once installed, passenger rail is significantly better for the environment than urban sprawl and private car use. The principles of reconomics and relocalisation, also increases climate-friendly retail footfall.
Proposition
Electric cars are considered the response to climate change in terms of transport. However, if everyone had one then we do not generate enough electricity to power them. Even if we did, those who don’t drive would still be left stagnant. That makes them part of a wider solution as opposed to a panacea.
We have a finite amount of habitable land and we must use it more wisely if we are to evolve through the impacts of climate change. Agriculture should be our priority for land use because of the food it produces and its export value to the country.
Urban sprawl is a luxury New Zealand can no longer afford. Water levels are rising so we must start planning for the resettlement of displaced domestic and Pacific climate change refugees. Development in the Golden Triangle can help us re-imagining these communities.
