Public meeting to protect Wellington's future
Join us on 6 March to express your concerns about the District Plan recommendations, demand action from Councillors, and learn from the experts.
We’re convening an urgent public meeting in response to the Independent Hearing Panel’s recommendations for Wellington’s District Plan.
6 March, 6.30pm-8.30pm, at the Sustainability Trust on Forresters Lane.
Join us on to:
📃 Express your concerns about the findings and recommendations of the of the IHP
✊ Demand action from Wellington City Councillors ahead of their pivotal District Plan meeting on March 14th
💡 Learn from leading experts about the social and economic implications of the IHP recommendations, and why WCC must make amendments to support the progress on housing that Wellington needs.
Your attendance is vital to making your voice heard. Together, we can shape a better future for Wellington.
This is a free event, but please RSVP via Eventbrite as the venue has limited capacity.
The Sustainability Trust is an accessible venue and there is car parking available if you need it - just let us know and we can sort it out for you cityforpeoplenz@gmail.com.
Walk home with us!
Central government says Wellington council must plan for lots more homes within “walkable catchments” of urban centres. But the Independent Hearing Panel (advising the council) says we don’t need to zone for heaps more housing in Newtown because Wellington is an “amphitheatre” and that it’s not reasonable to assume people who walk to work also walk home.
Let’s prove them wrong.
We deserve lots more homes in Newtown, and in all the other suburbs close to the city centre where people want to live.
We’re walking to Newtown on Monday March 11th to call for more homes, affordable rentals, and a truly liveable city - join us!
We’ll leave Civic Square at 5:30pm, ending with drinks and socialising in Newtown.
Other ways to take action
Can’t join us in person but still want to help out? There’s heaps of other effective things you can do!
Share our events on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook - help us spread the word.
Email your councillors, and let them know why you support our five asks. We’ve put all their contact details and an email template right here for you 👇. Easy peasy.
Write a letter to the editor. These letters reach a wide audience, so remind everyone that there are heaps of people in our city crying out for more homes. Here’s a great example letter we spotted from James Barber:
And of course, we’d always welcome your donation, too!
Media round up
Luke was in The Post again this week: Wellington rents amongst highest in New Zealand.
Luke Somervell said it was tough to see Wellington’s rents on a par with Auckland.
“I remember when I moved from Auckland to get cheaper rent in Wellington. And now people are going back to Auckland because there’s more housing and it’s cheaper up there so it’s quite an extraordinary turnaround.”
And I had a piece on The Spinoff, arguing that demolishing some character homes would be better for the environment, actually.
“Houses don’t exist alone in space. They’re part of a complex system: the city. Comprehensive life-cycle analysis should take this context into account. Wellington has a housing crisis caused by high demand and a persistent under-supply of new homes. We need to build more homes (this is not optional) and they need to go somewhere – ideally somewhere where the life-cycle emissions of the whole city will be lowest.”
Preyanka shared her story of moving 11 times in 11 years in the Spinoff, an all-too-familiar tale for renters in Wellington:
“Every move felt inevitable, the result of circumstance, like I was a helpless leaf being blown about in the housing equivalent of Wellington’s ridiculous winds. But looking back, there were patterns. If I’d had the option, I would have rented an apartment on my own, and built a cosy, safe paradise. But every time I went flat hunting, I couldn’t afford the bare minimum. Moving 11 times is rough. It always costs you to leave a home, and not just financially. It’s hard to put down roots if you don’t stay in one place. Good, reliable housing is about safety in every sense of the word.”
And check out this great write up of Urban Nerds last week from the folks at Talk Wellington - including speeches from Marko and Luke.
More coverage we recommend:
Joel’s analysis on the Wellington by-election results: The old town and the new city: a clash of two Wellingtons
Wellington District Plan panel’s views on affordability ‘wrong’, says housing minister
Why are economists up in arms about Wellington's housing report?
Wellington housing panel members have millions in undeclared property interests
Reviewing Wellington’s newest heritage landmark: a rusty oil tank
Less than three weeks to go!
Council will vote on the final District Plan on 14 March. We’re calling on our city councillors to change the zoning rules in five important ways and make it easier to build more homes, in the right places.
Let’s keep working together and keep the pressure up!
Nga mihi nui,
Eleanor, and the City for People team.
