The Wellington Civic Trust has three days to appeal with demolition work able to start on Friday. Photo: Paul McCredie
The Wellington Civic Trust will reveal on Thursday whether or not it will appeal a judicial decision which will allow the council to demolish the City to Sea bridge.
The trust was attempting to halt the demolition, but on Monday the High Court threw out its judicial review.
With demolition work able to start on Friday, the trust has been given just three days to decide if it will appeal.
"We are working against a extraordinary deadline," Wellington Civic Trust chair Helene Ritchie said.
"We have been examining the judgement very carefully and we are in the process of deciding whether to take the matter to appeal or not," she said.
Decision should be left in the hands of the next council
Former lawyer and diplomat Colin Keating has been watching the debate over the bridge's future closely and made previous submissions in support of retaining the bridge.
He said there had been a big upsurge in public concern over the issue.
With voting for the next council starting shortly, he said it was "democratically appropriate" for this council to take a step back and let the next council manage the issues around the "public concern, the legitimacy of the decisions that have been taken and the appropriateness of them".
"The people of Wellington should have the chance to hear what the candidates think about the issue and for it to influence their vote, and for the democratic process to decide it rather than the rather confused and sometimes lacking transparency process that it's been through up until now."
Keating said the court case was also focused on the process which the council had used rather than whether or not it was a right decision for the city.
"What we've got is an initial decision by the court which says that they agree with the council that their process was not unlawful, but the court doesn't make any findings at all about whether it was a good decision or the right decision."
He said the ball was now back in the council's hands.
Possibility of a notice of revocation
Councillor Nicola Young, who was one of the councillors who previously voted to save the bridge, said discussions were underway as to whether a notice of revocation was a step they could take.
A notice of revocation requires six signatures and Young said that was the number of people who had previously been in favour of saving the bridge.
But with that notice they would have to go back to the committee that made the original decision which does not sit again this triennium, so they would also have to do another notice calling for a special meeting,
"If we lost, which is likely if the voting stays the same, we're not allowed to bring it back to council for another six months."
Young said that would then fall to the new council, with local body elections next month, but by that stage the bridge would likely already be gone.
She said they would make a decision on the notice of revocation once they knew if the Wellington Civic Trust would appeal.
It was "absolutely wrong" for such a major decision for the city to be made this close to an election - especially in a city that was already "ripped apart" by road digging, building demolition and road cones, she said.
City in for a shock
Stuart Niven who is an urban designer and had previously consulted for Wellington City Council, said there was strong public opposition to demolishing the bridge and the council's decision-making needed to be examined.
He also felt the project should be left to the next council.
"The last act of this council is to stand arrogantly astride that bridge and kick it down in the face of a lot of public comment," he said.
Niven said what would be left behind after the demolition would shock the city.
"The whole structure of the civic precinct is like an amphitheatre currently with the square at its heart," he said.
He said that included a series of public buildings which wrapped around the square and the bridge with its cascade of stairs which provided part of the amphitheatre sense.
The demolition would take away that amphitheatre emphasis and leave a large hole its place, he said.
The bridge is set to be replaced by a road crossing. Niven said he could not imagine motorists would be pleased with another lengthy stop added to a key route.
For pedestrians he said it could also be a more dangerous substitution.
Mayoral candidate would 'interrogate the basis of the decision'
Leading mayoral candidate Andrew Little said he would look to examine the basis on which council made its decision if he were to be elected, and the issue was still at play.
"The council faces serious financial challenges and we cannot afford to have a repeat of the Town Hall or sludge plant cost blowouts," he said.
Council says all work is currently 'theoretical'
A Wellington City Council spokesperson said there was "no chance" demolition work would start on Friday.
"Everything is theoretical until the trust decides whether it will appeal the court ruling or otherwise.
"But we have been making preparations, given that the existing council has voted to approve the demolition," the spokesperson said.
"An at-grade (road level) pedestrian crossing would replace the bridge if the demolition proceeds."
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