Notice of Revocation on Hamilton transport projects
Letter from Hamilton City Councillor Andrew Bydder to all Hamilton Residents.
UPDATE: 11 March 2024: The Youtube video of this council meeting is available with public forum from the 33 minute mark and the debates around the revocation motion starts from the 2 hour 23 minute mark.
Here are links to the unconfirmed meeting minutes
Hamilton City Council Website
Archived version
There has also been an NZ Herald article published claiming that 10 transport projects have been cancelled from this meeting, most of which involve raised safety platforms, raised, crossings, raised roundabouts, raised intersections.
Not all projects have been completely cancelled. Some projects have been sent back for Council staff to investigate alternative options. Other projects have had the raised crossing removed from the plan and replaced with alternatives such as the traditional, flat, signalised pedestrian crossings.
CityWatch NZ urgently invites people in Hamilton to attend the Hamilton City Council Meeting open to the public on Tuesday 5 March at 9.30am. We have included the letter below from Councillor Andrew Bydder explaining the importance of this meeting.
Here are links to the Hamilton City Council Meeting featuring the Notice of Revocation intended to stop various expensive and unpopular transport projects in Hamilton City.
Archived version
Please tell friends, family, and work colleagues. Hamilton City Council needs to know that you do not want any more in-lane bus stops, raised platforms, narrowed roads, and the removal of car parks...
Letter from Hamilton City Councillor Andrew Bydder to all Hamilton Residents.
The tide is turning. The end is in sight for the speed bumps and insane in-lane bus stops! A formal notice to revoke Council's previous approvals has been included in the Council meeting for 5 March. This means there will be a new vote, and public pressure will change the outcome.
It was the culmination of a lot of work by elected representatives Geoff Taylor, Ewan Wilson, Mark Donovan, Emma Pike, Kesh Naidoo-Rauf, and ‘far-right extremist’ Andrew Bydder. We listened to the public, went out talking to affected businesses, and spoke to hundreds of grey-haired ‘rioters’ at a certain public meeting. We copped flak from media, social activists, and within Council. Together, we argued strongly against each project. We lost every time 6 votes to 8.
While it could be claimed that this is the democratic process, none of the Councillors had campaigned on a mandate of such damaging changes to our roads. The fact is, this was only one version of democracy, and another was started. The public made their voices heard!
Thanks to all those who who stood up for their city. Many people formed groups such as CityWatch NZ, joined the Hamilton Residents and Ratepayers Association, wrote letters and emails, phoned Councillors, handed out pamphlets, and protested on the streets. Thanks also to business leaders such as Tom Andrews and Robin Ratcliffe, who made their experienced views known. The pressure worked.
The 6 Councillors put together a Notice of Revocation to overturn the original decision in a meeting called by Geoff Taylor on 13 February. Ewan Wilson drafted the notice. This is within the official rules of the Council’s democracy. We did this to give an opportunity to the remaining Councillors to reconsider their position in light of the people’s response – and to expose those ideologically fighting cars. Mayor Southgate and Deputy Mayor O’Leary quickly seized on the chance to switch from defending the projects to giving us the numbers to stop them at the Council meeting on 5 March. To be fair, Southgate has been sitting on the fence saying she didn’t support all of the projects. It may be a late shift, but it is appreciated.
There is more to come as we have sparked a review of current projects. This includes cutting out in-lane bus stops where construction hasn’t commenced. We will need your on-going support.
Andrew Bydder
Hamilton City Councillor
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