National MP renews vow to ‘lie on tracks’ to stop rail project, now on fast-track

National MP Greg Fleming says he can still envisage a scenario in which he would lie on the tracks in an attempt to stop a heavy rail line slicing through the middle of Auckland’s Onehunga neighbourhood.
But Fleming has somewhat toned down his vehement opposition to KiwiRail’s Crosstown Corridor since his party added the controversial project to its flagship fast-track list.
During last year’s election campaign, Fleming told Newsroom he could be willing to cross the floor in opposition to the railway that would link Avondale and Southdown with a heavy freight line set to run directly through residential Onehunga.
Last September, the now Maungakiekie electorate MP said running a heavy freight corridor directly through a residential neighbourhood would be “such a bad piece of decision-making in terms of the impact on this community”. 
“I think I might cross the floor on that one, or certainly beg leave to differ,” he said at the time.
Speaking to Newsroom this week, following the release of the Government’s list of 149 fast-track projects, Fleming re-focused his stance, saying he hoped they would find a solution through community consultation and it wouldn’t get to that.
Locals have been vehemently opposed to the plan for years, though it has been on KiwiRail’s cards since World War II, when it purchased a string of properties through the then-underdeveloped Onehunga area. 
Eighty years later, these properties have been developed into housing and neighbourhood facilities. KiwiRail leases them to residents, but holds the rights to develop the corridor, and has expressed intent to do so.
When the Government came into power it cancelled Labour’s Auckland Light Rail project and greenlit the heavy rail corridor. 
Last week, it was revealed the project had been included on the Government’s list of fast-track projects, which prioritise development and growth over local opposition.
The Avondale-Southdown link passes just north of the centre of the Onehunga neighbourhood, and would separate the bulk of the residential homes from the town hub, requiring at least 14 road crossings. 
Its completion would link the northern and southern portions of KiwiRail’s infrastructure – a crucial piece of infrastructure if the Government hopes to grow Northport’s operational capacity – as signalled by other fast-track listings.
Fleming told Newsroom this week that if a railway was built directly through the heart of Onehunga, “that quite possibly would still elicit that response from me” – referring to the nuclear option of lying on the tracks in protest.
He said he would have to see how the project progressed in the years, “not months”, ahead.
“No pun intended, but that’s a bridge I’ll cross when I come to it.”
The MP said he hoped this “worst-case scenario” could be avoided by ensuring proper community engagement.
He remained opposed to the prospect of the rail corridor, but was “increasingly hopeful that we could end up with something that not only serves wider Auckland well, [but] that actually serves Onehunga well”.
Fleming defended his more conciliatory tone by saying his role as MP was to act as “the conduit; the translator with the Government”. He said his first obligation and interest was still the community, and insisted he was “100 percent confident that if the project is to go ahead, it’ll be done with really thorough community consultation and input”.
He said inclusion on the fast-track list still came with two big ‘if’s. Firstly, that it was accepted by the expert panel, and secondly, that funding was actually available to carry out the proposal. 
Other options like underground tunnelling could avoid some of his community’s concerns if the corridor came to fruition, he said.
The railway corridor designation had been in place for “a very, very long time”. The issues were well-known to those living in the area, but before now the project’s future was less certain.
“It will be interesting to see what happens around that corridor now that that project has been raised as potentially alive.”
When Fleming made his comments opposing the rail project during last year’s campaign, he said he had to “preface every email with … my party has not yet chosen its position on that”.
That situation has now changed.
But Fleming did not specifically say whether he would still consider crossing the floor to stop the rail project going ahead, or whether the inclusion of the rail corridor on the fast-track project list would be enough to see him seeking leave to take a different position from his party.
The proposed fast-track legislation was introduced in March. The list of 149 projects to be included in the bill for fast-tracking consideration was revealed on October 6. Parliament’s select committee is due to report back on the bill on Friday.