With the local body elections in October, a long-awaited upgrade of Courtenay Place, and big changes for water, housing and the economy, it’s set to be another dramatic year for the capital city.

The Golden Mile

Conservative city councillors made a last-minute attempt in November to scrap the Golden Mile upgrade from the council’s long-term plan. Mayor Tory Whanau considered the streetscape upgrade a bottom line and refused to budge. This story has played out countless times over the past nine years: it’s cancelled, it narrowly survives, and the city kicks off yet another round of consultation, debate and delays.

Construction is supposed to start this year, but we’ve heard that many times before. At this point, I won’t believe it until there are jackhammers in the ground. Wellington City Council is currently negotiating the construction contract and says it will provide further information and a detailed design in February. The works will begin at the corner of Courtenay Place and Cambridge Terrace.

With the October local elections, the construction timing will be crucial.  Voters tend to hate roadworks, but they see the benefits once completed. Whanau has tied her brand to the project, so she will be hoping it’s at least partially complete before ballot papers go out.

Housing

Wellington City Council’s most significant decision in 2024 was the new District Plan, which revolutionised the city’s housing rules, allowing more high-density apartments and townhouses.

In 2025, we’ll see some of those changes become reality, especially if interest rates continue to fall and property developers have more capital to play with. One example is Forma Group, which is planning several new developments that would have been impossible under the previous District Plan. Its first project is Mayfair in Mt Victoria, a six-storey apartment building that will add 32 new homes to a suburb that desperately needs them.

The anti-density group Live Wellington is strongly opposed to the development. “There is a significant impact on those who already live in the area – through shade, increased traffic, loss of privacy and impact on the suburb’s character. Basically, the amenity of existing owners is being stolen by this development,” the group’s spokesperson Phil Kelliher said.

Live Wellington has filed a judicial review against Wellington City Council and RMA reform minister Chris Bishop, seeking to overturn key parts of the new District Plan. The case will be heard in the high court on February 24.

Bike lanes

Thought we were done with this nonsense? No way. In 2025, Facebook comments will remain filled with ungrammatical and fact-free rants about bike lanes destroying businesses and causing famine and plague. Commuters are getting used to the new road layouts, and the statistics show that bike lanes have led to a significant increase in cycling, but the rage-based opposition isn’t going anywhere.

Two significant new cycling connections are under way and will be completed soon. A new bike lane in Berhampore will link the Island Bay cycleway and the Newtown cycleway, bringing the southern connection’s total length to six kilometres through some of Wellington’s most populated suburbs. The second new bike lane is the Karori Connection, which will extend the Botanic Gardens cycleway to Karori, giving another 20,000 residents the ability to commute to the city on a protected route. This has been Wellington’s most controversial cycleway since Island Bay in 2016, especially since Karori is a suburb that skews older and more car-centric, so the responses will be interesting to watch.

Public sector job cuts

The coalition government has cut 9,520 public sector jobs so far, according to the most recent RNZ tally. Most of these cuts have been in Wellington, which has taken a severe toll on the local economy. There are more cuts expected in 2025, including at the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Department of Internal Affairs, the Defence Force and Te Whatu Ora.

Water reform

Wellington City Council’s new long term plan includes the biggest-ever investment in water infrastructure, with $1.2 billion in capital funding and $676 million in operation funding. But even that is barely enough to scratch the surface. Truly addressing the problem will require more substantial reforms. Greater Wellington Regional Council chair Daran Ponter has been working with councils around the Wellington region to develop a new water services organisation that aligns with the government’s Local Water Done Well policy.

The new model is expected to be revealed to the public for consultation early this year, and councils are expected to present their plans for approval by September. A new water entity could shift significant debt from council books and lead to cheaper rates for residents, but getting all five Wellington councils on the same page has proven challenging.

Lobby groups

Lobby group Vision for Wellington continues to pick up high-profile endorsements, including Avatar director James Cameron, while other members have been desperately texting National Party ministers in an attempt to influence Wellington City Council decisions. It’s not clear yet what the right-leaning Vision for Wellington’s plans are for the local elections: will it endorse a mayoral candidate, will it spend money to support a candidate or a position, or will it continue its background approach of privately lobbying its allies in government? The group will host its first public event on February 19, which should offer some insight.

But Vision for Wellington isn’t the only newly-formed group looking to swing the local elections. Conspiracy-aligned Better Wellington, founded by whaling lobbyist Glenn Inwood, is ramping up its social media presence on Facebook and Twitter and isn’t afraid to get mucky or misleading. The group seems to have lined up behind councillor and mayoral candidate Ray Chung. Another new conservative group, Concerned Ratepayers Wellington Region is already holding public meetings and organising campaigns.

On the progressive side, Cycle Wellington and other urbanist groups (such as Urbanerds) have become increasingly powerful and will undoubtedly have some influence on the local body elections, though it’s unclear what form that may take.  And, of course, there are the two active local political parties, Labour and the Greens, which are currently in the process of recruiting and vetting potential candidates and developing campaign strategies.