My message to council is this, writes the former city councillor and current MP for Wellington Central: A majority of people support densification. Don’t be scared of a vocal, privileged minority who seek to protect their own interests.

In one week’s time, the Wellington City Council could make a major decision to enable tens of thousands of new homes in our city. This is what I would consider a historic, mokopuna decision. Mokopuna decisions are those decisions which prioritise the needs of future generations above and beyond the interests of people who are here right now.  

A few years ago, when I was a brand new city councillor, we had to make a big, mokopuna decision on the Spatial Plan, the precursor to the proposed District Plan. It was the first time that Wellington City Council would breakaway from its tradition of restricting housing development and protecting the mouldy, old heritage homes that our generation flat in. 

I was told that I would pay for my decisions, to the extent where people distributed anonymous flyers about me throughout my council ward. I was invited to public meetings and ambushed by heritage lobbyists. The most powerful people tried to pressure me, and all of us, into changing our minds and giving in to the same old power-brokers who have had their way with our city for a long time.  

But this is the thing – I was always prepared to lose my job to do the right thing. I took a risk and I went all in for housing in Wellington. Not only was I re-elected as a city councillor with one of the largest margins in the history of Wellington City Council, but I was elected as the local MP with a 6,000 vote majority. Densification popular in Wellington. The crazy idea that everyone should have a safe, warm and healthy home is one that we embrace. 

My message, and word of caution, to city councillors is this: you represent a city where a majority of people support densification. You have seen pro-density representatives at all levels be elected and re-elected because the mood of our city is overwhelmingly that we want more housing and we want it now. Do not be scared of a vocal, privileged minority who seek to protect their own interests. I promise you that the voice and the power of the people – real people – is so much stronger. Be bold, be good tīpuna (ancestors) and make the boldest, most ambitious mokopuna decision that you have made yet.  

Wellington is in a state of housing emergency, and it has been allowed to snowball, because political decision makers have been slow to treat the issue with the urgency it requires. Just ask any of the majority of people who rent in our city, or look at the increasing number of people who are rough-sleeping on the street. This far-too-common experience has been well-documented in the media, in the tenancy tribunal, in books and popular culture. The shameful and embarrassing housing market in Wellington has become the butt of many jokes, except those of us who are living in it are not laughing.  

Without bold, mokopuna decisions which move us towards the city that we deserve, future generations stand to inherit a city where they have no place to stand and no place to call home.  

It has been pretty special for me to represent our city as a councillor and now as the local MP, as a renter. I’ve found that home-owning decision makers at all levels tend to be out of touch with the realities of renting in this day and age.  

When the previous government put in place the National Policy Statement on Urban Development, it was welcomed as a clear step directing councils to let our cities grow up, with urban environments that provide new homes close to city centres and good transport links. Wellington Council has an opportunity to bring in a plan that achieves this potential. Unfortunately, the independent hearings panel has taken the draft District Plan backwards, but next Thursday on March 14, councillors can put that right. In my view, the council needs to bring Wellington more in line with Auckland, which has seen a boom in development leading to stable rents since their Unitary Plan shifted the dial on density. 

If you’re into the technical detail, the things to be looking out for are council’s decisions about density zoning, walkable catchments, character precincts, height limits, and enabling development where people most want to live.  

Getting this plan right is crucial to the future of our city. If the plan enables more housing in areas where people can walk, bike or bus to work, that means lower costs for our transport system, lower emissions, and a lower cost of living. If the plan prioritises density in existing urban areas, it means lower infrastructure costs, and a more vibrant city. If we think of character as the vibe of a community – things like the street festivals, the cafes, the community centres – rather than the homes built a century ago, then we can build thousands of new homes. And building new homes means people can stay in their communities or find a place easily in the area they want to live in, instead of being pushed out by gentrification.  

If Wellington does this, it will mean more neighbourhoods that are safe and easy to walk around, from home, to school or work, or the shops. It will mean cheaper housing development, using existing infrastructure instead of having to build new roads and pipes. It will mean prioritising the character that people bring to their communities, not the supposed character embodied in colonial-era buildings. It will mean enabling more homes to be built near where people work, like the central city, the universities, and the hospital. 

This is the city that we not only want, but also deserve.