Month: April 2019

Why we need better bike ways leading into Levin

This a blog on two levels. On one level it’s a bitter personal lamentation about how I can no longer ride my bike into work. On another level, it’s a broader complaint about the way in which Levin is being shut out of the regional growth that is happening in Kapiti as a result of being too disconnected.

Kapiti showed 9.9% economic growth last year – greater than Auckland and Wellington combined. The region is growing more rapidly than any other region in the country. This is a result of a massive transfer of wealth happening as people head up the line, many of whom were originally drawn by low property prices, but who now have settled into functional employment and started new businesses to cater to the slowly changing demographic.

Next step on the Lower North Island growth spurt is Levin, and with plans for the new expressway now confirmed, although still a few years away, my view is that a lot of smart capital will head that way in the next few years and the town will profit and become gentrified. At the present moment, however, a lot of growth and traffic headed into Levin is being stymied by the choke points along the way. 

One of the great points of disconnection is the total absence of a bike track leading into the town from the south. While bike tracks do exist along the Otaki to Levin route, the bridges leading into Levin are simply too much of a hazard to cross, being tight two-lane State Highway 1 lanes with vehicles inclined to travel close to 100 kph despite the changed terrain. 

I’ve tried many times to get across these bridges. I’ve succeeded once, but at great peril to myself, and in a matter that does not bear being repeated. Sadly this means that a daily commute into Levin from Otaki each day for work, which would be easily achievable on an ebike, is not a possibility. 

This is a problem not just for me, but for Levin’s changing demographic. I am already seeing an increased number of people biking in to work from Otaki to south Kapiti each day. It makes sense for the same amount of traffic to head in the other direction. But where the way is not safe, this cannot happen. The question for me is, with the lack of a serious bike lane to provide a safe way for cyclists, what will this mean for people’s change in habits, and in the end for unnecessary carbon emissions?

We need a better bridge between Kapiti and Horowhenua. Hopefully this will come with the new expressway. But that is years away. 

Submitting a test case to the Green Fund for consideration

The $100 million Green Fund was announced last year in order to showcase the coalition’s commitment to finding scalable ways to fight climate change.

But since then, not a lot has happened. On the 1st of March I received an update on the progress of the Green Fund. The update read as follows.

Good afternoon, 

You are being sent this email because you have asked to receive updates on New Zealand Green Investment Finance (NZGIF). The following update has been placed on our webpage : https://treasury.govt.nz/information-and-services/commercial-portfolio-and-advice/new-zealand-green-investment-finance and also on our LinkedIn page.

What now?·       NZGIF is in its establishment phase. This follows the appointments to the board late last year of Cecilia Tarrant (Chair) and David Woods (Director). There is a lot to do before NZGIF will be fully open for business.·       

The next step is to complete the Board appointments.  Applications have closed and are being considered. Appointments will be completed by mid-May.·       

We’re also working on company incorporation. We are in the process of developing the company constitution and other foundation documents, which will enable NZGIF to be incorporated by mid-May. ·       

When will NZGIF be operational? Exact timelines will depend on decisions directors make; however, we expect to see NZGIF fully operational by the middle of the year. Thank you for your continued interest in NZGIF.  We will provide further updates on the priorities and the process for applying for investment as this is made publically available. 

Regards,New Zealand Green Investment Finance

I guess that from an avid viewer’s standpoint, who has read the headlines but who is as yet uncertain how the fund will work, I am a bit worried from the above email that the fund may be losing traction. Which is a shame, because I desperately need some money to go green. 

I recently realised by way of a spreadsheet that I can reduce my travel emissions working as a sales consultant by as much as 20% by switching to a hybrid electric car. The decision was first of all a financial one: switching to a hybrid would pay for itself over ten years in the cost of fuel savings that I would achieve alone, essentially providing close to a 10% ROI. (The return on investment is so high because I am looking at second hand hybrids in the $7k range. A new hybrid will not achieve this.) I need soon to update my car anyway, so this seems to be a wise way to go about things.

In my view, this is the sort of investment that the Green Fund should be exploring – environmentally friendly initiatives that also achieve a return on investment in excess of the long term government bond rate. But it remains to be seen in practice whether this would ever happen. The nature of the second hand car market is that it is rapidly moving, with good deals disappearing off the market every day. The fund, on the other hand, seems to be moving fairly slowly. 

So I am going to test the waters by sending them an email with the spreadsheet attached. I am interested to hear whether they respond at all, and if so, whether they will be able to assist at all in my scenario.