Once again, it has taken Transport Minister Mark Bailey nearly three months to reply to my letter – and once again, that reply has taken the form of getting a minor public servant to confirm that;
- they have built what they have built, and
- the policies I have asked about are policies that exist.
You may wonder, then, if this is all the response I get, why I keep writing these letters. There are a few reasons:
Firstly, I think it’s important to document the unsafe infrastructure that continues to be built in our community, the missed opportunities, and to highlight that it’s political reluctance and cultural attitude, rather than technical knowledge or policy, that is the problem. That’s why my correspondence is always addressed to the minister, regardless of who the response (eventually) comes from.
Secondly, writing and publishing about these issues helps shape the conversation within the community. When all the politicians on Facebook can offer is bigger roads to “bust congestion” (which of course doesn’t work), it’s important that people see that there are other, more nuanced solutions to our livability issues. I do think we’re starting to see that conversation slowly shift.
Thirdly, I think publishing these articles is having some impact on the ground. After I posted my previous article on social media, I was contacted by an engineer who told me that the overly-narrow section of bike lane “looks like a mistake” and would “be fixed”; and lo and behold, a few days later that section of paint was scraped off the road!
While, in this case, the outcome was merely a reversion from inadequate active transport infrastructure to no active transport infrastructure at all, it is an important reminder that nothing will ever get better if no-one stands up and says anything; however thankless a task it may seem at the time.
– D