Wakely Track work

Aurélien de la Schlucht made this Official Information request to Wellington City Council

The request was partially successful.

From: Aurélien de la Schlucht

Dear Wellington City Council,

According to your page https://www.transportprojects.org.nz/cur... Wakely Track (length ~ 1500m) has now been closed for construction for over half a year. It's been almost two years since this was approved for the first time.

Please supply all of these since 1 January 2017 for Wakely Track:
* meetings including minutes and participants -- for any WCC people below senior level feel free to list a senior person who they report to instead.
* plans
* tenders
* quotes
* contracts
* communication
* phone calls (numbers, participants, date, time, duration, documentation)
* work progress reports
* a calendar with all business days marked as either:
** status unknown
** work not started
** work being done
** process related waiting (e.g. for concrete to cure)
** waiting for contractors to return

For background, rumour has it that since September 2017
* WCC went back on its decision to pave Wakely
* The electricity company which runs the power lines along it graded the track, according to a worker on site
* WCC decided to gravel the track

As these are no more than rumours, can you please confirm or deny each of these?

How was the decision made at the time to leave the track as is?

How was the decision made to gravel the track, rather than paving it, or leaving it?

Who are the contractors working on the track this year? How was each company chosen?

Is any signage or other communication planned to inform people of their new transport choice?
If so, what in detail?
If not, why not?

What is the goal under which WCC is doing this upgrade?
How was the goal determined?

Ngā mihi
Aurélien de la Schlucht

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From: Aurélien de la Schlucht

Kia ora Wellington City Council,

Just a small number of things I forgot. Thanks.

What was the projected construction cost for the gravel option?
What's the projected annual maintenance cost for the gravel option?
What was the initially projected construction time for the gravel option?
Are you expecting that the projected costs will be the actual cost? If not, why not?

What was the projected construction cost for the tar seal option?
What's the projected annual maintenance cost for the tar seal option?
What was the projected construction time for the tar seal option?

Please include sources, reasons, meeting minutes etc for all of the above.

At some point the signs at the track ends said it'd be done in May 2019. Then they were stickered over, replacing May with July. How did this come about? Again please includes reasons, communication, etc pp.

What is the current projected opening day?
How has this been determined?
What risks exist for this? Please list with probability and impact.

Is an opening celebration planned? If so, how are you going to advertise it?

Ngā mihi
Aurélien de la Schlucht

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From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council

Dear Aurélien

Thank you for your email dated 11 August 2019 submitted via FYI requesting information about the Wakely Track work.

Our team will manage your request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 which requires us to respond as soon as possible, but no later than 6 September 2019.

The reference number for your request is IRO-8874.

Please contact us if you have any further questions.

Kind regards

Jessica Hall
Assurance Services Coordinator  | Wellington City Council
| W Wellington.govt.nz | |

The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.

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From: Aurélien de la Schlucht

Related request: https://fyi.org.nz/request/11035-wakely-...

Ngā mihi
Aurélien de la Schlucht

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From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council

Dear Aurélien

Thank you for your emails dated 22 August 2019.

I have been assigned to your request and I am currently working with the Wellington City Council teams, to collate the information to be able to respond to your questions.

I will be meeting with the teams today, to see if we can respond to all of your questions that were sent to the Wellington City Council on 10-11 of August 2019.
At this meeting I will check if they are able to include your new request by the due date of 6 September 2019. Otherwise your new request will be due on 19 September 2019.

I will be able to provide you an update later this afternoon.

Kind Regards

Asha Harry
Assurance Advisor | Complaints & Information Assurance | Wellington City Council
P +64 4 801 4178 | E [email address] | W Wellington.govt.nz |

The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.

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From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council

Hi Aurélien

I have just spoken to the teams regarding Wakely Track.

They have advised that it is a lot of information to provide, and they may not get it completed by the due date of 6 September.

They have asked if you would be interested in coming into the office to discuss the Wakely Track work. Please let me know if this is something that you might be interested in, I am happy to set up a meeting on your behalf with the team.

Kind Regards

Asha Harry
Assurance Advisor | Complaints & Information Assurance | Wellington City Council
P +64 4 801 4178 | E [email address] | W Wellington.govt.nz |

The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.

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From: Aurélien de la Schlucht

Kia ora Asha Harry,

One point of view may be that if one imagined a project manager whose job it is to look after safe travel in all modes, after this track, and after the work being done to it, then these questions here would be exactly the ones that most people would expect them to ask.

Currently, at least some of these decriptions apply, either as simple facts, or as hearsay, or as a possible interpretation of the former:
* The work takes a very long time
* The work is late, even by WCC's updated end date of July 2019
* The gravel solution may not be fit for purpose
* No work has been done at all on this track this month, August 2019
* The goal of the work and the problem it starts to solve may not be well understood

As such I am here making an attempt to act as a kaitiaki for Wakely Track.

In my view it'll be advantageous that the public has all the facts around this track available to them.
It'll also be good to have everything available before this year's local body elections.
The due date of 6 September, and publication of documents here, serves these purposes very well.

Ngā mihi
Aurélien de la Schlucht

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From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council

Hi Aurélien,

Thank you for your email.

The team is trying to put as much information together to be able to send out by 6 September. I will keep you updated on progress.

The team's offer to meet beforehand still stands, should you want to meet with the team to discuss.

Kind Regards

Asha Harry
Assurance Advisor | Complaints & Information Assurance | Wellington City Council
P +64 4 917 1002 | E [email address] | W Wellington.govt.nz |

The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.

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Aurélien de la Schlucht left an annotation ()

Related: Progress report request #2: https://fyi.org.nz/request/11111-wakely-...

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From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council


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Dear Aurélien

 

Decision on your request for information regarding Wakely Track.

 

Further to the email below, the Council has reached a decision on your
request.

 

Your request has been granted and for no cost at this point in time. 
However under section 14(1)(a) of the Local Government Official
Information and Meeting Act 1987 (the Act), I am extending your request by
an additional 10 working days, as the request necessitates a search
through large quantities of information and meeting the original time
limit would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the local
authority.

 

We will be in a position to provide the information no later than Friday
20 September 2019.

 

Thank you for your patience.

 

Asha Harry

Assurance Advisor  |  Complaints & Information Assurance | Wellington City Council
P +64 4 9171002 | M +64 27 8030399 | E  [1][email address] | W
[2]Wellington.govt.nz | [3]Facebook| [4]Twitter
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended
for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality
and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender
immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.
[5]https://email-signature-images.s3-ap-sou...

 

 

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Aurélien de la Schlucht left an annotation ()

Made a complaint to the ombudsman. This is a short track. The LGOIMA request delay is only consistent with the construction delay.

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Aurélien de la Schlucht left an annotation ()

According to this info, this delay is illegal. https://fyi.org.nz/help/requesting#quick...

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Aurélien de la Schlucht left an annotation ()

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From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council


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Dear Aurélien

 

Thank you for your information requests regarding Wakely Track.

 

To provide you with an informative response, we have collected all your
requests into one, as some questions were repetitive.

 

The team is more than happy to meet with you to discuss the Wakely Track,
their details are at the end of the response.

 

Kind Regards

 

 

Asha Harry

Assurance Advisor  |  Complaints & Information Assurance | Wellington City Council
P +64 4 9171002 | E [1][email address] | W [2]Wellington.govt.nz |
[3]Facebook| [4]Twitter
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended
for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality
and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender
immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.
[5]https://email-signature-images.s3-ap-sou...

 

 

 

References

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1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://wellington.govt.nz/
3. https://www.facebook.com/wellingtoncityc...
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From: Aurélien de la Schlucht

Kia ora WCC,

Having received a bit of guidance from the Office of the Ombudsman here's a follow up with further questions as your initial response is insufficient.

The QQ numbers are follow up question numbers so we know what we’re talking about.

=== 16 & 17 Goals ===
WCC may be under the impression that pointing to a couple of long winded documents is enough of a reason.
The specific reason to make Wakely accessible, and quickly is that it is an alternative to these two options:
* In Newlands Road, WCC continues to maintain an environment that by its design encourages “people” to harass and intimidate their “friends” and ‘neighbours’
* In Ngauranga Gorge, NZTA continues to maintain an environment that by its design encourages “people” to pollute the air that their “friends” and “neighbours” breathe while climbing the hill
These are of course reasons that are only experienced when using this infrastructure, which I haven’t ever seen WCC staff or councillors do.

So, (QQ1) what is the precise reason for WCC to do this work?

=== 6, 15, 26 and 29 Signage ===
WCC may be under the impression that the long duration of the closure and the “under construction” state is close to permanent.
The question was regarding permanent signage, and directions, to guide people. That’d be to guide people from Newlands Rd to Hutt Rd and back, and more.
Like
* this one for all traffic https://goo.gl/maps/xBV6edBkkB8XCHud7
* this one for bicycles https://goo.gl/maps/XdBCCcQJKXezLnRG8
(QQ2) Is WCC planning on any permanent signage?
(QQ3) If so, what exact signs are planned?
(QQ4) If not, what is the exact and precise reason for not supplying signage?
(QQ5) Is it that WCC doesn’t regard cycleways and walkways as adult infrastructure?

=== Cost comparison ===
The point of the questions around cost of tar seal or gravel are to find out whether you are doing the expected excellent job, and to find out whether you are doing the right thing for the right reason. Blanket claims of commercial sensitivity will be against the spirit of the LGOIMA, if not against the letter. Follow up questions therefore:
(QQ6) What was the expected complete cost of the tar seal option?
(QQ7) What is the expected complete cost of the gravel option?
(QQ8) You have supplied expected annual maintenance cost for gravel. What is it for tar seal?
(QQ9) Do you expect gravel to be washed out seriously more than once a year?
(QQ10) Has the half finished gravel washed out in March this year and in July this year as the rumours say?
(QQ11) Is the final gravel safe against wash out? I'm sure you hold documentation for the final surface, so please include this in your response.
(QQ12) You write “The Council has settled on an agreed price with the contractors”. What is that including GST? Right there you claim to hold this information.
(QQ13) You never write anything at all about how and why G&S was chosen. I explicitly asked for this, in all detail. Why is it, and what makes them better than their competitors?

=== Completion ===
You write that fencing work is completed. The gaps in the fence suggest otherwise.
(QQ14) Is the fencing work completely completed?
(QQ15) If not, when is fencing expected to be completed?

Regarding the opening. The current provisional partial conditional opening is not an actual opening, is not reliable, is not permanent, and doesn’t cater to common types of bicycle like the common road bike. If one was to guess then they'd say that you did this under the pressure from this LGOIMA request.
(QQ16) Is there a delay clause in any of the construction contracts?
(QQ17) What percentage of cycleway and shared path construction contracts that WCC signs have a delay clause?
(QQ18) What percentage of other road construction contracts that WCC signs have a delay clause?
(QQ19) If there is a delay clause, what precisely does it say?
(QQ20) If there is no delay clause, what is the precise reason not to have one?
(QQ21) The opening of Te Hikoi Ararewa -- the Wainuiomata shared path -- was an excellent celebration of active transport and community spirit. Politicians like mayor Ray Wallace used it to show their face while getting some exercise. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yTb-j76... -- What is the precise reason not to have one like this?
(QQ22) Is the reason not to have an opening celebration that WCC councillors and/or officers are embarrassed by the slow progress on Wakely Track?
(QQ23) Has an opening celebration ever been discussed between councillors and/or officers? Please provide details of any reasoning.

Ngā mihi
Aurélien de la Schlucht

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From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council

Tēnā koe Aurélien

Thank you for your email dated 10 October 2019 requesting further information regarding the Wakely Track.

Our team will manage your request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 which requires us to respond as soon as possible, but no later than 8 November 2019.

The reference number for your request is IRO-9178.

Please contact us if you have any further questions.

Ngā mihi

Jessica Hall
Assurance Services Coordinator  | Wellington City Council
| W Wellington.govt.nz | |

The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.

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