Where should new housing go?
And why will it turn out badly if Wellington's draft District plan goes ahead as proposed?
Wellington’s population is growing, and we don’t want our suburbs to sprawl because that means more carbon emissions from driving long distances – so what’s the solution?
More medium density housing for Wellington makes perfect sense – in and around the central city, and along transport corridors.
But if we are all going to be living closer to each other in future, it’s important that our future dwellings are well thought-out, so we all have access to sunlight, a decent outlook, and privacy from our neighbours.
These are fundamentals of good planning and design but they don’t happen by accident. Rules and design guides are needed to make sure we create a city we can all live with.
The problem
The draft District Plan is very light on its design guidance, or indeed any guidance about how and where to do density well. Under the draft Plan, a developer can build six storeys almost anywhere in the inner city suburbs, and quite a few sites elsewhere. Few protections would remain around quality, sunlight or design. Your right to have any say will largely disappear. Whether you own or rent, this is a shady proposition.
The solution
LIVE WELLington says stronger design guidance is needed to ensure good outcomes for our future housing, and a clear staging approach will help pour city do density well, making the best use of vacant land and other sites where housing can be built in ways that support liveability. We also need to retain the right for our communities and neighbours to have some say in decisions that affect them.
To do this we first need to tell Council to change their draft Plan.
This is one of several changes needed to make the draft Plan work for everyone, and deliver the housing we need while looking after the things that matter.
What you can do.
Make a submission on the District Plan. Hurry – submissions close 14 December 2021.