Beware the Vogons

Beware the Vogons

Submissions on the Wellington City Council’s Long Term Plan close this month, and although that sounds about as dull as ditch water, you should probably take an interest.

When it comes to council consultation I am often reminded of that great opening section in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy where Arthur Dent is incensed by the fact that his house is about to be destroyed to make way for a new freeway.  How was he supposed to know this was going to happen? 

Well, it turns out he had been consulted – or rather the plans were on display for months at the council … in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard’.

As it happens, that’s the least of Arthur Dent’s issues given the planet Earth is about to be destroyed by Vogons to make way for the hyperspatial express route – the plans for which were available for anyone to see at the local planning office on Alpha Centauri, a mere four light years away.

To be fair to the Wellington City Council, they have made a better job of consulting than the Vogons.  The website for the Long Term Plan has an excellent array of fact sheets clearly setting out the various options the council wants to hear your views on.

So get amongst it – otherwise as the Vogons told the people of planet Earth shortly before they destroyed it, if you can’t be bothered to take an interest in local affairs that’s your own lookout.

Speaking of local affairs, Mt Victoria residents are starting to get their heads around what a new tunnel might mean for them.

Although Vogons are scary, what can be scarier for authorities are energised local residents.  The Government hasn’t said so, but another benefit of going for a ‘long tunnel’ option instead of the duplicate Mount Victoria tunnel would be to avoid a fight with Mt Victoria residents who have a track record of winning legal battles against transport solutions they don’t like.

Meanwhile, if you want to distract yourself from the politics of today, how about a play that re-lives the politics of a year ago?

The Local has teamed up with Circa to get readers a special offer on tickets to Transmission: Beta, the play about the Covid fallout.

If you’d like to go to the theatre but you don’t have someone to go along with, or you keep forgetting to get around to it – now is your chance to join us for a fun and thought-provoking evening out. See more details here.