Soggy Students Promised Shelter and a Sexy New Asphalt Ramp

Words by Niamh Vaughan (she/her)

The relocation of the Kelburn Parade bus stop has proved to have devastating effects after last week’s stormy weather. 

Construction of the Living Pā caused the bus stop to be moved further down the street about a month ago, and ever since, students have endured bus wait times without a shelter. 

“Everyone was absolutely dripping. No, they were soaking. My shoes were full of water. It was basically just glorified swimming,” said a disappointed eyewitness, who was forced to catch the number 18 in torrential rain. VUWSA made a desperate attempt to save drowning students by erecting a tent, Noah’s Ark style, that saw tens of students cramming themselves under at a time in order to escape the torrents. 

But still, no one was safe. Even the tent erected in good faith was not enough to cover the forlorn students. “We had a lot of students under the shelter. We only had one tent,” stated a distraught Jess Ye, VUWSA President. 

“The first time we talked to Metlink and Greater Wellington Council about needing a bus stop was a year ago. They were just…slow. They’ve known a bus stop was needed from the start of the Living Pā construction. [They] don’t seem to care about students’ wellbeing,” said Jess.

However, Tamatha Paul, Pukehīnau/Lambton Ward councillor, has unexpectedly swooped in, like the hand of God, and intervened. “It was a really rainy day about a month ago [when] I was going past the uni and I noticed a massive group of students standing in the rain.” Paul took it upon herself to approach Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, the Council, and Metlink, demanding that the students of Wellington be saved, or at least, respected.

Paul is disappointed in the time it has taken for the situation to be dealt with. “It’s been at least a month since [I initially got] in touch with Metlink, and with the Regional Council and their public transport spokesperson, [...] to try and get temporary shelter in place,” she stated.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable for anybody to be stuck out in the rain, particularly students who are gonna get absolutely saturated, and then get sick, and then return home to their damp, cold flats. If it were a different demographic being affected in this way, there would have been a solution found much sooner,” continued Paul.

VUW has finally announced its solution for the cold and wet students. The university excitedly told Salient about its imaginative plans for a temporary solution: a shelter that will be set back from the footpath and accessible via an asphalt ramp at its front side. 

This was expected to be done by the end of last week. A new, permanent bus stop is promised to be erected outside of the Murphy building by August.

As Paul said, “The situation has not been met with the seriousness it should have been met with. [...] It fits into the narrative that as students, you have to struggle and suffer, that it's a rite of passage.”