This Thursday Wellington City Council will consider a 30-year plan for improving or creating new green spaces across the central city as more people want to call central Wellington home.

Greening the inner city is one way of supporting peoples’ well-being and our native environment while addressing climate change.

The Green Network Plan and implementation framework is the result of overwhelming feedback heard during the draft Spatial Plan consultation says Mayor Andy Foster.

“We’ve received strong community feedback over many years about the importance of greening our Central City, especially with a rapid increase in the number of people attracted to live in, work in and visit downtown Wellington.

“We’ve analysed the amount of green space we need over time given predicted population growth and I was delighted when the Council unanimously supported the creation of a 30-year funding programme in the Long-term Plan to acquire land and create park spaces.

“If this plan is adopted, we would create two new urban parks – the first on the corner of Taranaki and Fredrick Streets, enhance 20 existing urban spaces, and double the number of trees to 4,000 in the central city over the next ten years.

“Reaching these proposed targets are critical in supporting the health and well-being of our growing residents, workers and visitor populations while helping to address the climate and ecological emergency all Council’s declared in 2019.”

Wellington city’s draft Green Network Plan and Implementation Framework is a programme to grow and better maintain the trees, shrubs, gardens, and grass that make up ‘green’ areas across the central city.

We have overlaid the predicted residential growth, building densification, and planning initiatives such as Let’s Gets Wellington Moving to identify what level and quality of green spaces are needed to help:

• address the effects of climate change such as reducing carbon levels, improving water quality
• improve and create habitats for biodiversity
• make the city more liveable and resilient
• support people’s health and well-being, and community connections.

Pūroro Āmua Planning and Environment Committee Chair Iona Pannett says: “Greening the city isn’t limited to building new public parks for people to use – it’s also about improving air quality and creating habitats for our native flora and fauna in public and private streets, parklets (sidewalk extensions), community gardens, plazas, and laneways.

“Planting car parks, roofs or even walls of buildings can also help reduce pressure on our stormwater infrastructure which can struggle in storms, the frequency of which is expected to increase in the coming years.”

Deputy Chair for Pūroro Āmua Planning and Environment Committee Tamantha Paul says: “Te Whanganui-a-Tara has a strong history of how our natural waterways and native plants supported iwi and settlers to thrive and develop into Aotearoa’s vibrant capital city.

“We’ve lost many spaces and habitats as the city has developed and roads, offices, squares and footpaths have been built, leaving only 9 percent of our central city as a green space.

“We are working with Mana Whenua on a long-term partnership to access their knowledge and expertise in restoring native habitats, with a particular focus on improving the health of the city’s streams.”

The updated drafted plan also highlights the opportunities to partner with other organisations to green areas and encourage the use of sustainable design across the city – which has already begun.

As well as our work with Mana Whenua, we are working closely with Let’s Get Wellington Moving plans, and across Council to align with key strategies including the Open Space and Recreation Strategy, and the Pōneke Promise – our joint commitment to improving city safety.

If adopted the plan will also be included in the District Plan process around open spaces and greening the city.

The draft plan and framework will be considered by the Planning and Environment Committee on Thursday 12 May 2022. You can read these in the meeting agenda on the Council website.

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