"Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
Bevan Woodward might be said to be the epitome of this quote. There has certainly been no path to follow as he has pursued, for the last 17 years, a vision of a cycle and walking pathway attached to the Harbour Bridge, and he and his fellow travellers have certainly left a trail; of battles fought and won, of overwhelming endorsement from some quarters and overcoming opposition from others, and of court and bureaucratic battles and victories.
To quote the Auckland Harbour Bridge Pathway Trust website, “SkyPath is a transformational project to provide a shared path along the city side of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It will be an attractive, semi-enclosed facility that will appeal to recreational users and visitors as well as commuters….”
It probably first came to most people’s notice around 2012/13, when media interest started to ramp up and a community grant from the Ministry for the Environment enabled more detailed planning and community consultation.
Bevan Woodward is an accountant by training and a former Takapuna business owner who now works with BetterWorld NZ, on a “wide range of sustainable transport consultancy”. He’s the inspiration behind and the face of the much-talked about SkyPath, which last month received conditional approval of the project’s resource consent from the Environmental Court. The ultimate green light, perhaps? But there had seemed to be green lights earlier, and even now there are naysayers…
Bevan says the inspiration came to him around 1999 when he was living in Pt Chevalier and commuting to Barry’s Point Road where he had an outdoor clothing and equipment store. “I thought it would be easier and more fun riding a bike than driving.” Couple this with a strong environmental conscience and a sense that “it was obvious Auckland couldn’t build its way out of congestion” by adding more and more motorways, and the seed was sown. He started writing letters, and joined Bike Auckland where he met fellow believers, members who were as keen to create the new path as he was.
Initially he met with a less than enthusiastic reception from NZTA (the logical starting point, as the agency responsible for the Harbour Bridge) or Auckland Transport. Cycling and walking at that stage were simply not on either body’s agenda, he says. They had an engineering mindset. “We were seen as troublesome and not part of the plan; it was easier to deal with building new motorways.” It took “years and years to begin to crack it”.
Auckland Council was more open to the idea, with Mayor Len Brown, Councillors Mike Lee and Chris Darby and members of Council staff key advocates. Sky Path was included by Mayor Brown as one of his top six strategic goals in 2014.
Bevan says there were three major hurdles for the project to clear. The first was proving that the engineering would work. NZTA stumped up $600,000 to fund initial engineering and design work. It issued documents supporting the safety of the proposed concept, which involves the use of hi tech lightweight composite materials, during the consenting process.
The second was funding. SkyPath will proceed as a Public Private Partnership (PPP), and is “very small scale as such things go”, Bevan says. Funding was signalled by a three-way non-binding heads of agreement between the Auckland Harbour Bridge Pathway Trust, Auckland Council and Morrison & Co’s Public Infrastructure Partnership Fund. This was signed in the first half of 2014 to “set out how the three groups would carry out feasibility work needed before a final funding deal”, according to a New Zealand Herald report. By then, estimated costs were $33.5m. Cyclists and pedestrians were expected to pay between $2 and $4 to use the path. These estimates have yet to be confirmed; it appears that HOP card-using Aucklanders will pay less than tourists or others who do not have a HOP card.
Bevan still finds it frustrating that NZTA will not fund the project, allowing pedestrians and cyclists the same free access across the bridge as motorists. However, in response to concerns from Northcote residents concerned about the numbers of cyclists disgorging onto quiet local streets, NZTA is now on board as the developer of a related “Sea Path” linking the Northcote end of the SkyPath to Takapuna and beyond via a walking and cycle path alongside and under the Northern motorway to Akoranga Drive (http://www.skypath.org.nz/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/201603-NZTA-SeaPath-project-newsletter.pdf ) Cyclists can also link with other North Shore cycleways via three other routes starting from the northern end of the SkyPath.
The third hurdle was getting resource consent. Auckland Council granted resource consent in July 2015, with Mayor Brown emphasising the benefits not only to cyclists but to locals and tourists who choose to walk across and take advantage of the views of the city and the harbour.
The project throughout has been challenged by residents’ groups and others on both sides of the bridge, who argued against it on the grounds of the impacts of up to 13,000 people a day using the SkyPath, with increased traffic, parking congestion and disruption to their communities. (Estimates by SkyPath suggest an average of 2,100 people a day in Year One, climbing to around 6,000 in year 20. An average of 2,000-3,000 cyclists use the Sydney Harbour Bridge cycle way on a daily basis.)
Opponents have heaped derision on the concept, and expressed outright scepticism that the project is viable. When it came to challenging the resource consent in the Environment Court, Herne Bay Residents’ Association withdrew its appeal stating that it did so because it did not think that the project would come to fruition. The Northcote Residents Association and Northcote Point Heritage Preservation Society, however, pursued the appeal, which was decided in early November, with Environment Court Chief Judge Laurie Newhook confirming the consent, but with conditions to be provided in a written decision yet to be handed down.
Opposition from residents at both ends of the proposed Sky Path cited a number of deficiencies in the proposal, and is unlikely to have abated since the Court decision. What exactly is the thing going to be built of, say some, and why hasn’t NZTA come to (or made public) any conclusions about how the SkyPath might impact on the integrity of the bridge? And then there’s the big question of cost. Is the Council really prepared to cover the operating shortfall if fewer cyclists or pedestrians use the pathway than predicted? If the project is so worthwhile, challenges ex-Councillor and now Takapuna Devonport Local Board member George Wood, why isn’t Council or NZTA building it? They could borrow money to fund it at far better rates than the private funders, he says.
“I still have major doubts as to whether SkyPath will ever happen, in the manner that is being advanced by the SkyPath Trust. It’s interesting that the New Zealand Transport Agency, who own and operate the Auckland Harbour Bridge, have indicated that if SkyPath doesn’t happen then they will consider building purely an access across the harbour just for cyclists.
“The whole project seems to have gone on forever and whilst this is happening the ratepayers are having more and more costs put on the Auckland Council account. Once this project went from being simply a cycleway to an across-harbour tourist walk things have changed. Some of the conditions that Auckland Council has included, like allowing dogs on-leash to have access and children under five years accompanied by a [paying adult] to have free access, the whole appearance of SkyPath has changed.
“The Environment Court has yet to come down with the conditions for the operation of SkyPath and then we will await the deliberations of the New Zealand Transport Agency . The Agency will determine whether they can approve SkyPath being attached to the bridge and what loading restrictions they will impose. Auckland Council will then have to decide whether they are prepared to fund the shortfall in SkyPath’s revenue. This information will be set out in the Council’s annual plan for next year.
“While we wait for any final SkyPath plans the costs are escalating considerably but at the same time it seems that the number of users will be restricted so as not to place too much burden on the harbour bridge structure. The final figures will be extremely interesting.”
Advocates, on the other hand, cite the SkyPath as a fillip to Auckland’s aim to keep tourists in the city longer, and an impetus to fewer cars on roads - both city and Shore-side - as people opt to cycle or walk to work once that option is open to them. Newly elected Auckland Councillor Richard Hills is one such advocate. He commented: "Thanks to the dedication of a long list of people, this exciting project will significantly change the way we move around our city for work and recreation. It will have positive impacts on congestion and improve health outcomes for Shore residents. I've already had tonnes of positive feedback from people of all ages."
His fellow Shore-based Councillor Chris Darby is another strong supporter of the project and has been involved with the trust for more than a decade. Hailing a resolution passed unanimously by Council in July of this year to endorse the PPP arrangement; to “authorise the Chief Executive to enter into all necessary agreements in relation to the SkyPath proposal, subject to minimal financial impacts, and to take any other actions in the Chief Executive’s delegation to facilitate the progress of the project”; and to “agree to make appropriate provision for the SkyPath project in the 2017/18 Annual Plan and the 2018 - 2028 Long-term Plan”, he emailed supporters with an update, closing with the words: “Thank you again for your support and encouragement of this wonderful project that will bring our city ever closer. Pending the resolution of the resource consent appeal, detailed design and building consent, I hope in anticipation to spot you high above the Waitemata in the summer of 2018/19.”
Whatever the details of the Environment Court judgement, there is still much to do. The funding arrangement needs to be finalised and the appointed project manager, Downer Construction, has to select companies to manufacture and deliver the 87 modules required for the proposed design.
It’s been long trail Bevan Woodward has left, since he began going “where there is no path” and it’s clear from Councillor Darby’s words that there are still barriers to overcome. Bevan, like his fellow SkyPath advocates, remains optimistic. He anticipates that any conditions imposed by Judge Newhook will be “in line with the Environment Court process”. For example, public toilets will now be built under the northern end of the Harbour Bridge as part of the SkyPath construction. He says that in this as in other issues raised by objectors, the trust has aimed to understand the concerns of affected communities, and has modified its plans accordingly. The hours people will be able to use the SkyPath have been reduced from 24/7 to 6am-10pm daily, for example; the Sea Path link to Takapuna is “progressing”; Auckland Transport is developing a parking management plan for Northcote Point.
“We appreciate that forecasting shows that Saturdays and Sundays in peak summer periods will have high numbers, but if you spread that per day total over the full day, it’s a steady flow, not hundreds. And the way we’ve aligned the landing means [walkers and cyclists] have a choice of one of four directions to take once they reach Northcote Point…. Residents talk about SkyPath being like an industrial pipe that terminates outside their houses and that will emit all of this waste. We think of it as being part of a network [of cycling and walking paths] connected all across the region.”
He believes that SkyPath offers an elegant solution that will enable people to cross the harbour other than by car, first mooted more than six decades ago when the Harbour Bridge was being planned, but lost from the final plans. It will, he says, deliver similar benefits to Auckland as walk/cycle paths do on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and on Lion's Gate and North Arm bridges, among others, in Vancouver, for example.
He remains optimistic that his vision will become reality, with funding agreements signed in the first half of 2017 (“but throughout the project I’ve been overly optimistic”). Beyond that, he has little idea of how long construction will take or when the SkyPath will open.
What he does know is that while he has been project champion to date, he and his fellow travellers have all been volunteers, and it’s time for their role to diminish. One senses that he’s looking forward to reflecting on the trail of change he’s created and watching construction take place. And he’ll no doubt be among the first to cycle the SkyPath when it’s finally finished.
