Palmerston North City Council held a public meeting at The Globe, on the 30th March 2023, entitled “Fast Speed Slow Cities”, regarding its plan to become a 15-minute city. Speaker, Dr Rodney Tolley from the World Economic Forum (WEF) outlined the climate change goals of the WEF pertaining to our city, and the fact that the pollution of cars and diesel vehicles would necessitate some essential changes. In its view, the WEF, along with our government and its agencies, believes our contribution to global climate change must be reduced, if not eliminated.
We have heard from Local Government New Zealand that every urban council has signed up to be part of this scheme.
What Does This Mean?
We are led to understand that everything we will need will be within 15 minutes distance of our homes. Shops, schools, GP, dentist, etc. But what about clubs and other facilities, golf, gyms, swimming pools and let’s not forget workplaces.
As yet no time frame has been given, nor were the meeting attendees given any specifics as to how this would be achieved or evaluated. Neither Palmerston North City Council nor Local Government New Zealand has any information on their websites, despite this proposal having been agreed to. Locals have no idea of the impact of these far-reaching proposed changes to our city, changes that will very likely greatly curtail our activities, jobs and family lives, as well as shopping and travel opportunities.
How Do We Know What Palmy Might Look Like in the Future?
WEF climate change city agendas have already been started in other areas of the western world. England has begun to convert cities and towns, aiming for 5-to-20-minute timeframes. Melbourne has begun this process, as has Paris. We can safely assume that the WEF model for these cities has been utilised in every case, as that model was demonstrated as the blueprint at the PNCC public meeting, and the WEF web pictures are commonly used in much of the publicity around the world.
The aim is to create within each sector in our city a specified haven of carbon neutrality for us all.
Palmerston North residents will be permitted to travel only within a 15-minute walking, cycling or scooter distance from our homes, unless we obtain permits (for a fee?) to travel further for specific and valid reasons. This will be achieved by ensuring essential services such as shopping, a park, pharmacy, school, a doctor and public transport hub will be in place in each sector. (Will there be enough room for the homes?)
Many roads will be closed to car traffic altogether. Eventually all vehicles running on fossil fuels will be fined or banned outright. Electric vehicles will be used for public transport, with EV car hire available. Christchurch city has already started this scheme, but the hireage cost, housing, insurance, maintenance, charging and availability of these cars is yet to be made known.
Questions
Bearing in mind that the people have not been consulted on this issue at any level, it looks as though this program is full of hidden agendas and features of mass control.
There are many questions for the council regarding the 15-minute city in Palmerston North.
1. If people are not allowed to travel outside their allotted zone, how will the movement of people be monitored and policed? CCTV is already installed in parts of the city. Will this be extended to the suburbs with facial recognition cameras and checkpoints as in the UK, Europe and China currently?
WEF Official Admits ’15-Minute Cities’ Will Imprison Humanity in ‘Forever Lockdowns’
2. In order to travel to another part of the city to visit relatives or friends, or to shop at a preferred retailer, or visit a preferred medical centre for example, or gym, will there be a need to apply and pay for a pass? When Oxford City Council in the U.K. revealed last year its intention to introduce the concept, they proposed ideas that could discourage people from driving outside their designated district. Vehicle monitoring cameras designed to recognize licence plates would enforce compliance as well as having people apply for permits to travel into other neighbourhoods.
3. If a road is closed off with bollards, as in Oxford, how will emergency services be able to access the street quickly if there is a fire or medical event?
4. The people of Oxford apparently have to pay to park cars on the street in front of their homes. Visitors, even family members, also have to pay a parking fee of sixty pounds if they drive to see parents or others across town, according to a local. Will that happen in Palmerston North? In Birmingham the council is fining people GBP75 for inadvertently driving on an unmarked bus lane.
5. If a child goes to a private school outside their 15-minute zone will the child’s family be able to take them to school as they have been accustomed to?
6. Will elderly and disabled people, and new mothers, be able to get to their support groups, clubs and churches around the city, or will they be confined to their zone? And will they be expected to brave Palmerston North’s windy, rainy cold weather on foot or mobility scooters in order to conduct their daily business?
7. How will restrictions affect city amenities such as the Esplanade, Lido, cinemas etc?
8. How will these restrictions affect employment and study choices? Will everyone be expected to take an available job in their own zone rather than a preferred job on the other side of town, for instance?
What Others Are Saying
In a recent interview European Parliament MP Christine Andersen said:
“It’s not that they want you to be able to have all of these places that you need to get to close by. It’s not about saving the planet either. With the 15-minute cities, they will have to have those before they can lock you down, and that’s what we were talking about here.”
In Great Britain, some counties have already passed legislation. They will be able to impose a climate lockdown. That’s the next step…. In order to do that, they will have to have these 15-minute cities, where you are only allowed to leave your immediate area two or three times a year. But there are other people that may have more money, and they can actually buy your passes off of you. Guess what? The poor people will be left in these 15-minute neighbourhoods while the ones that are better off get to go wherever they want to go. This is what we are talking about.
When you really take all of this together, there is no other way for me to actually say this. It will be a complete impoverishment and enslavement of all the people. I’m stating it so clearly because that’s what it seems like, and that’s what it looks like to me – they can decide you are no longer allowed to leave your 15-minute immediate area. They don’t have to fence it in or anything. It will be done via digital ID. There are pilot projects already going on in Bologna. There, it’s called the Bologna Wallet. In Vienna, it’s called the Vienna Token. It’s voluntary for now, and it’s pretty much enticing people. If you do this, you get some tickets for a little less, to go to the theatre. Voluntary. Once again, first step. But soon, there will be a time when you don’t have a choice anymore. You have to have this Digital Green Certificate with this QR code. Then, they will tell you where you can go, what you can do, and what you cannot do.
More Information
Finding concrete plans and details about the 15-minute City is proving elusive at this time. Although the council and LGNZ have signed up to the scheme on our behalf without our knowledge or approval, they appear to be as much in the dark as we are if the dearth of information is an indication. We make the assumption that as the speaker here was from the WEF, then that body should have a pattern for these cities. For decades, town planners have been learning about the so-called benefits of placing people in zones which contain all that the people need for daily living. We do not believe that this is necessarily a good thing, neither has this been a democratic decision.
There are many good discussions online about this subject, both pros and cons.
Here are a few:
15-minute cities videos
Samantha Edwards – Unmasking the Smart City Agenda
Local Council REJECTS 15 Minute Cities
15-minute cities are ‘an attack on cars, our freedom of movement and our independence’ | Alan Miller
‘These deeply illiberal, unBritish 15-minute cities are beyond the pale’ | Mark Dolan
German MP Christine Anderson – Globalists plan 15-Minute Cities for Climate Lockdown 3m
Contact Us
If you have any questions or would like to get in touch with us, please email: info@pn15.nz