Daynger:

 

Collins wanted to put bikes and pedestrians on the harbour bridge by blocking lanes, that is an instant no from me.

 

Collins might have wanted to, but as a state highway, that's NZTA's call and not his.

Brown might be about to find out how little influence he has over the operational decision-making of AT. But I actually think he already knows this, and knows that it's set up that way for exactly this reason.

At best, he can try to convince others to appoint certain councilors to the board, or perhaps even publicly express confidence (or not) in them or the chair. But that's kind of it? One of the frustrations GA had with AT was that they had a suite of strategic and policy docs that never seemed to line up with what was on the ground; i.e. climate emergency, huge need for cycle-ways, but very little action on building them and repeated consultations on stuff that had already been consulted on.

If AT won't follow their own rules and policy docs then I struggle to see how Brown in a largely ceremonial role is going to wield unlimited power in reforming it. Without legislative change, his power over the CCOs is limited.