Council to chew over gondola venture
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The possibility of a $50 million gondola in Palmerston North is set to be debated at the city council within two months.
Palmerston North City Council chief executive Paddy Clifford said he expected to bring a report to councillors soon and he wanted to know if they believed staff should spend time on further study of the project's merits and implications.
The Manawatu Standard reported on Monday that Palmylink wanted to build a gondola linking Massey University with central Palmerston North, but it was unclear how the project would be funded.
About 12,000 people travel to Massey almost daily, many of them along a single corridor – Fitzherbert Ave – which crosses the Manawatu River.
The project's backers have indicated they would need friendly terms from public bodies to make the business stack up.
Reaction to the proposed gondola has been mixed.
Retired city engineer Neil Johansen, 86, said the idea of a gondola in Palmerston North was raised in the early 1970s. It didn't get past the suggestion stage at the council, he said.
If a venture got off the ground, its success would depend on getting people to change their travel habits, he said.
Horizons regional councillor and former mayor Paul Rieger, who attended a workshop about the proposal last week, said the idea was wonderful, but he couldn't see how it would be viable.
Hotel Coachman owner Leonie Hapeta, whose business is on Fitzherbert Ave, said the gondola would add life to the city, should it go ahead.
Project promoter Ryan O'Connor said Palmerston North's flat terrain wouldn't be a problem.
Cities overseas were seriously considering gondolas for public transport, he said.
They were cheaper to install than trams or light rail systems, he said.
Mr O'Connor said people involved in Palmylink had worked hard to refine the concept and the next stage would be to develop a proposal that could be put to potential investors.
'VISIONARY CONCEPT'
More than half of respondents to a manawatustandard.co.nz poll believe a gondola in Palmerston North is a great idea.
Fifty-six per cent of more than 360 people said it would be "awesome" and 44 per cent thought the idea ridiculous.
Comments:
"Finally, a visionary concept unique to Palmerston North."
"A monorail system would be better."
"Let's be realistic, Palmerston North is not big enough to support a $50m white elephant."
"A facility of this nature would certainly set Massey University and Palmerston North apart and provide a significant focus for the city in the area of sustainable technology and innovation."
"A gondola is a really crazy idea. I had to double check the date and make sure we hadn't slipped back to April the 1st."
"This would be a unique scheme that would attract tourists to the city as well as relieving peak-hour congestion on the arterial routes, not to mention parking at Massey."
"And where's the money coming from?"
- © Fairfax NZ News
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WHAT 50m on a gondola...am I going mad??? the money would be better spent on our "International Airport" make it live up to it's name and actually have international flights...
Aren't we waiting for the tram around the deserted square? or a link to the national cycle way? Its taken around 5 years for recyle bins! Rates increases have grown above inflation most years! Central Power Trust funds where are they? A gondola would be ideal but ........conservative hearts & old living!! Yeah Right
What a stupid idea. Palmy council clutching at straws again. Hopefully Palmy will get a real leader one day they will give the river, the square and Anzac Park back to the people not concentrate on light weight silly ideas.
Whaaaaaat??? What a stupid idea. If there is $$$ to waste on daft projects such as a gondola, perhaps residents could receive a rates cut instead.
Palmy Nth could do with a lot of big ideas to stimulate thinking about what can make the city more interesting for locals and visitors but not all of them need to go ahead - some can just be day dreaming.
Gondala could be a good idea but if it goes ahead, keep going past Massey - continue the run up to the top of the Tararua Ranges and turn it into a real tourist attraction as well as a local transport system.
More importantly, what happened to private companies/investment funding taking on these projects? Why does every idea get pushed on the Council which would then have to increase rates or borrowing to pay for it?
A lot of money has been spent on the "Square" and its revitalisation. Lets look at how we can spread this revitalisation to wider parts of the CBD with some very tired looking buildings needing a make over. Thank goodness for the limited number of developers wanting to spend money in Palmerston North, as they are certainly not encouraged to do so with the draconian processes in place by our PNCC. As for a gondola, perhaps some of the council resources should be chanelled into projects that might see a return. $50m, you have to be joking me.
Imagine we could advertize alco-pops to students on the roof tops along the rout
Where in the city would all these gondola users park their cars?
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Neil Johansen was City Engineer from 1969 to 1980. There were four innovative public transport proposals during this period. The 1971 Massey Rapid Transit proposal was an elevated monorail system. Starting at the Square, it proceeded along Main Street through the Railway Land. Turning at Cook Street it continued along the road median till it reached the Lido complex. Increasing elevation past the holiday camp and across the river there were two alternative alignments through the former D.S.I.R land and terminating at Massey.
The Central Area Short Haul (C.A.S.H) proposal involved the use of battery operated electric buses proposed by an Australian firm. This would have been an orbiter system that would have increased pedestrian traffic in the City Centre and introduce park and ride. In conjunction with this proposal was the study conducted to replace the City's 27 strong urban service bus fleet with a battery operated bus fleet.
It is well known that John Galbraith, Bus Manager championed substitution of diesel and petrol with natural gas that was piped in from Taranaki. The Council listened, acted quickly spurred by volatile and rising oil prices. Palmerston North had the world's first fleet of natural gas powered buses; and the Council had about 300 vehicles converted to use the cleaner and cheaper fuel. New Zealand was recognized internationally for its expertise in natural gas technology. Roy Bodell, engineer helped build capability in Thailand and Malaysia - who to this day operate CNG bus fleets. Palmy engineers worked closely with Japanese engineers improving engines and fuel delivery systems.
There appears to be no record of a gondola proposal in the City among the various sources I have looked up. I would be keen to hear from people who either recollect or have some information about the gondola project referred to in this news report.
I can be contacted at mg.gopalan at gmail.com
"MG" Gopalan