Tomorrow, Wellington city councillors will rewrite the rulebook for housing in the capital city, and we’ll be liveblogging it all. Here’s what to expect.
It all comes down to this. A very long, very boring meeting in a bland office building on The Terrace. In the War for Wellington, this is our Normandy. The moment that could change the future of housing in Wellington.
Wellington City Council’s environment and infrastructure committee will meet at 9.30am tomorrow to vote on the District Plan, the rulebook for housing in the capital city. There are three potential options on the table for councillors:
- Accept all the recommendations of the independent hearings panel.
- Introduce a series of amendments to change the recommendations.
- Reject the independent hearings panel report entirely.
The first option is a no-goer. There is no political appetite to keep the recommendations entirely. Councillors across the political divide are already signalling their intention to introduce several amendments.
The third option also looks impossible. Even though reporting by The Spinoff and other media outlets has poked holes in some of the panel’s reports, rejecting the entire thing is probably more effort than it is worth. Aside from questions of housing density, the District Plan also deals with a whole bunch of non-controversial, technical regulations, and it would probably be too much effort to have to redo the entire thing.
In the final meeting, councillors will try to introduce a series of amendments to the plan and rewrite it line-by-line. Any councillor can introduce an amendment, and each one will be voted on individually. Housing minister Chris Bishop will have the final say on either accepting a council amendment or keeping the relevant panel recommendation.
The amendments will likely focus on a number of key issues around housing density, particularly:
- How big should the city centre walking catchment be?
- How large should character areas be?
- Is the Johnsonville train line “mass rapid transit”?
- Will Kilbirnie get a high-density zone around the town centre?
- Will Johnsonville, Tawa, Miramar, or any other suburban centre get a taller height limit?
- Should Adelaide Road be included in the City Centre Zone?
- Will the general high-density and medium-density height limits change?
The meeting agenda is 4,265 pages long, and the council is probably going to take quite a few pauses for legal advice, so this meeting could go on for a while.
The Spinoff will be there the entire time, live blogging the moment that could change Wellington’s housing forever.
Recapping the War for Wellington
The War for Wellington began six weeks ago with a simple mission: turn the District Plan into a story that ignites the entire city, so every Wellingtonian has at least some idea of what is happening and why it matters, and to spark conversations about density and the future of our city. Here’s how it played out on The Spinoff.
Announcing the war for Wellington
A simple guide to Wellington’s District Plan and why you should care about it
Then, the independent hearings panel started releasing its recommendations. Suddenly the story became much bigger. The panel’s decisions were regressive, clawing back density and housing capacity. Many of the conclusions were just outright bizarre. We set to work digging into the recommendations, the panel, and what it would mean for Wellington.
The first recommendations for the future of Wellington’s housing are in, and they’re shit
A rare moment of unity: MPs trash Wellington’s housing panel report
How Wellington’s housing panel reached its anti-housing conclusions
Survey shows almost every economist in NZ disagrees with Wellington’s housing panel
Who are the members of Wellington’s independent hearings panel?
How much Wellington’s housing panel shrank density, in four maps
The story of Wellington’s housing panel
There were two big political twists, which each had the potential to change the outcome. The first was the Lambton ward by-election, which Green candidate Geordie Roger won in a nailbiter. The second was housing minister Chris Bishop’s announcement that he would be the final decision maker on the District Plan.
The election that could decide the War for Wellington
The old town and the new city: a clash of two Wellingtons
Wellington District Plan panel’s views on affordability ‘wrong’, says housing minister
A housing minister for the New City
Our contributors explored the unexpected and entertaining sides of housing policy.
Dear Wellington, please don’t allow more housing. Love, an Aucklander
A story of Wellington’s housing in 11 rentals
The Newtown Festival is the promise of Wellington
If Wellington won’t allow new housing, should we all move to Upper Hutt?
A team of expert planners and economists added to the conversation, offering analysis of the independent hearings panel recommendations, and insight into the wider issues of city design.
Opinion: Wellington’s housing panel is out of step with the economic evidence
Great news: building new housing makes old housing cheaper
Wellington’s Town Belt is a weird quirk of its past – and could be the key to its future
How low-density housing is making us poorer
We need to have better conversations about our cities
Lastly, we heard from a whole range activists, politicians, and passionate Wellingtonians about what they wanted to see from the new District Plan.
Why demolishing character homes would be better for the environment, actually
The case for why Wellington should keep character areas
What would Jane Jacobs think of Wellington’s new District Plan?
Tamatha Paul: Wellington can enable tens of thousands of new houses overnight
City for People: The five things we want from Wellington’s new District Plan