Mall fight pays for 'protesters'

Students are being paid to protest against Wellington's Manners Mall being ripped up for bus lanes.

Campaigners were left red-faced at a protest over the plans earlier this month, when only eight people "got on the bus" and joined in a human walking bus demonstration.

Now they are advertising for a "rent-a-crowd" of 30 students who will each be paid $25 to join them for an hour on December 11 and walk from Manners Mall to Wellington City Council chambers on Wakefield St to sit through a public meeting on the issue.

An advertisement was placed on Monday with Student Job Search by Island Bay resident Maria van der Meel – head of the Save Manners Mall Facebook group and the organiser of the Wgtn Loves Manners Mall poster campaign.

"You must stay throughout a public meeting regarding the 'revocation of the pedestrian status of Manners Mall'," the ad says.

"However, nothing except for presence will be required from you. First in first served. Manners Mall lovers preferred."

The only work experience listed as necessary for being a professional student protester is "light labour".

Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast said hiring protesters showed that the campaign against buses in the mall did not have wide support.

She said paying protesters was "outrageous" and showed that opponents of the council's $11.1 million plan "clearly don't have the support of large numbers of Wellingtonians".

"They are now forced to pay people $25 a time to make the human bus look slightly bigger than a small van load."

But Ms van der Meel said paying students to support her protest was not deceitful.

"It is the same as GoWellington putting posters in their buses saying text 'yes' if you support the buses through Manners Mall.

"So what is the problem? There is no difference. We have learnt from them."

In a statement, NZ Bus said: "The two campaigns are entirely different. The Go Wellington-Valley Flyer campaign is extremely transparent. It invited bus customers to text in if they supported the proposal.

"Save Manners Mall is recruiting people to represent themselves as supporters of their campaign for $25 an hour."