4 May 2016

Capital’s plan generates strong public interest

With public submissions on the Wellington City Council’s Annual Plan 2016/17 now concluded, Wellingtonians have indicated broad support for the Low Carbon Capitalclimate change action plan and the establishment of an Urban Development Agency.

The findings were released ahead of Council’s oral hearings, when around 70 submitters are expected to share their views with Councillors over two days set down for the hearings, Monday 9 May and Tuesday 10 May.

The Annual Plan 2016/17 implements year two of the $5 billion 2015-2025 Long-Term Plan. Led by Mayor Celia Wade-Brown, this plan introduced $800 million in new spending to promote economic growth in the Capital. There are also some new spending initiatives being proposed as part of this year’s Annual Plan.

Two significant initiatives being consulted on this year received strong public support:

• Of the submissions that commented on Wellington City Council’s aspirations to be a ‘Low Carbon Capital’ 83 percent support the strategy, which based on growing Wellington’s ‘weightless’ knowledge economy, reducing transport emissions and investing in cleaner ways of operating.

• Of the submissions that commented on an Urban Development Agency 76 percent supported its establishment, which would streamline land development through packaging land acquisitions and master-planning.

Council received about 750 written submissions on the Annual Plan consultation document, and more than 500 people attended the community consultation events, held across eight forums in locations around Wellington and online.

Mayor Celia Wade-Brown says the preliminary results show a pleasing level of positive engagement by the public in the activities of the Council.

“It’s great to see the public’s enthusiasm for Council’s Low Carbon Capital plan to address climate change and the Urban Development Agency initiative, which underline Council’s commitment to sustainable growth,” she says.

“The Capital’s growth can be good for our communities, our economy and our environment with no need for trade-offs. Our Annual Plan outlines the activities we’ll undertake over the next financial year to implement this vision.”

Other items that received significant public interest include the Living Wage, proposed Lyall Bay Surf Club redevelopment, the establishment of the Toitu Poneke sports hub in Kilbirnie and changes to community grants.

Next steps:

• Oral Hearings 9-10 May

• Annual Plan Deliberations 1-2 June

• Annual Plan adopted and rates struck for 2016/17 financial year 29 June

ENDS

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