![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/the-wellington-city-council-has-been-hearing-submissions-on-3EW6XAKGPNBBFF5F7IB2MZEGO4.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe son of a cyclist killed 17 years ago has told the Wellington City Council, on behalf of his father, that the capital needs cycleways and it is a question of ethics.<\/p>\n
By Justin Wong for Local Democracy Reporting<\/p>\n
Matthew Eyre stepped up to the speaker\u2019s podium during hearings on the council\u2019s annual plan on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
He first thanked the councillors for their work, saying everyone in the city should be grateful for the job they do. He wasn\u2019t seeking any specific funding, but was speaking on behalf of his late father, Desmond, with \u201cmy grief and my broken heart\u201d.<\/p>\n
Desmond Leonard Eyre, 61, was killed in June 2008 while cycling at Silverstream in Upper Hutt, when the driver of a ute parked next to a Fergusson Dr bus stop opened the door, striking Desmond\u2019s bike. He was \u201ccatapulted\u201d into the path of an oncoming truck and died from his injuries, according to a coroner\u2019s report in 2010.<\/p>\n
The ute driver, Sean Geerlings, was later found guilty of careless driving causing death.<\/p>\n
The Wellington council\u2019s annual plan public consultation asked respondents whether to cut its $10.5 million cycleway budget and kick back a proposed cycle lane on Victoria St.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Wellington City Council has been hearing submissions on its cycleway budget. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n
Matthew Eyre told councillors his father died under the wheels of a truck because there had been no cycle lane.<\/p>\n
Although Desmond\u2019s death happened 17 years ago, none of his family were able able to get over it: \u201cYou may not like cyclists, you may not like cycle lanes, you may not want to fund them. How many more people are going to have to go through the personal hell that I\u2019ve been living with for 17 years because of some procedural niceties?\u201d<\/p>\n
Eyre added the city needed segregated cycle lanes not only to get cyclists off the road but for motorists as well. He had lived in places economically worse-off than New Zealand, but said they still had comprehensive segregated cycle lane networks because they understood the value of human life.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t have to look into the eyes of the man who was driving the truck that ran your dad over, and it wasn\u2019t his fault,\u201d he said. \u201cMy poor dad was doored into the path of the truck, and we\u2019re talking 10 grandkids, five great-grandkids, three kids, girlfriend, ex-wife, girlfriend\u2019s family, eight brothers and sisters, all their kids. Everyone misses that man everyday of our lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand these issues on a deeper and more profound level than you will ever know, because I had to bury my father that day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis city is not safe for cyclists and it\u2019s your responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Desmond Eyre and police Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald were killed by trucks while cycling in the space of several days in June 2008, more than 300 cyclists took part in a memorial ride from Parliament to the Petone roundabout, along Thorndon Quay and Hutt Rd.<\/p>\n
Tuesday marks the final day of the council\u2019s annual plan hearings. In total, 170 people made oral submissions.<\/p>\n
\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The son of a cyclist killed 17 years ago has told the Wellington City Council, on behalf of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39,52],"class_list":["post-434850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-wellington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}