BLOG BY PHIL KELLIHER.

Just two years ago the housing market was in a frenzy, with properties going for silly money. 

But now it’s the opposite.  For property manager Phil Kelliher, this was vividly illustrated when he noticed a large property in Mt Victoria listed for nearly one million dollars less than its RV.

Kāinga Ora has spent $800,000 hiring a vast team of lawyers, planners and architects to influence the outcome of the Wellington District Plan, drowning out local voices, says Wellington community and urban design advocacy group LIVE WELLington.

“Citizens who know and love their city and neighborhood attempt to get involved in the District Plan process however we struggle to compete with highly paid lawyers and planners flown in from other cities to argue for inappropriate planning rules that are not conducive to a liveable city,” says LIVE WELLington convenor Jane O’Loughlin.

The panel of Independent Commissioners at Wellington District Plan hearings (left) are well outnumbered by Kāinga Ora’s legal and planning team (right).

With a new Wellington city council now in place, it’s time to examine the views of our new councillors on urban form, housing and a liveable city.

During the election, the excellent website Policy.nz asked candidates around the country to submit their policies and priorities under a range of headings, including ‘housing and planning’.  Using this, LIVE WELLington has extracted the policies of our new Wellington City councillors.  This summary table is available here, and our analysis follows.

So much has changed since the Wellington City Council voted in June 2021 to strip demolition protection from more than two-thirds of the city's character areas.

LIVE WELLington argues it's time for a re-think, and to strike a better balance.  We provided this letter to Wellington councillors, in the lead up to the notification of the proposed District Plan on 23 June 2022.

A survey of Wellingtonians has found that while there is support for increasing density in the inner city suburbs, it must be done with care, and there is considerable unease about the Wellington City Council’s plans to remove protections for pre-1930s houses in the inner city suburbs.

The latest official assessment of Wellington’s housing needs shows sufficient capacity in Wellington’s inner city suburbs to meet future growth for the next 30 years, meaning the drive by the council to decimate inner city character areas is unwarranted and must be abandoned now, says LIVE WELLington.

Will letting developers loose on our inner city suburbs deliver us from the evil of ever-escalating house prices?

Phil Kelliher explains the issues in this blog for LIVE WELLington.

An audience of around 90 people turned up to hear a panel discussion on urban design and density done well, at St Peter’s Church on 5 May 2022, organised by LIVE WELLington and Inner City Wellington.

Wellington needs robust people-centric design and thoughtful planning to remain a liveable and attractive city, says LIVE WELLington, a new group set up to champion Wellington as a liveable city for all.

Housing, climate change, earthquake resilience and ageing infrastructures are among the many challenges we face, says spokesperson Jane O'Loughlin.  “This needs joined-up thinking to prepare for the future while protecting what we love about Wellington.”

Get ready to have your say on the first draft of the new Wellington District Plan by December 14^th. The District Plan is the rule book for land use and determines what needs a resource consent so it's vital we all speak up for a liveable Wellington for all.