Part One – A Time of Great Opportunity

The aim of the Wellington Civic Trust since its formation in 1981 has been to help make Wellington the best of all possible places to live and work. We therefore approach the Council’s ”Wellington 2040 – the Future of our Central City” initiative with that aim very much in mind. The project is both timely and relevant. 

The project asks us to concentrate on the central city – the heart.But we have to be mindful that this heart pumps blood to, and receives sustenance from, the large urban body of greater Wellington. What happens there over the next 30 years will affect what happens at the centre of Wellington City.

It seems inevitable that in the next few decades the world will need to adjust its life styles to a low carbon emission economy. This will impact on the way in which we operate our cities – particularly the central city. We have to start preparing for that now – it is a time of uncertainty, but also of great opportunity.

In our response we identify a move from private transport to public transport as the key agent of change. We accept that will not be easy, but it is achievable if it operates as a rational response to price changes.

A major shift from providing for the needs of private vehicular traffic to one of investment in public transport, even if taken gradually over many years and working in sympathy with national pricing signals, will have major economic and social consequences. We have to know more about these to ensure that the benefits of change are maximised and the adverse effects minimised.

Council Policy Process

In terms of establishing the Council’s central city policy an inclusive approach is essential. Experience gained in the waterfront project may be relevant, such as the establishment of a consultative committee. Interested groups and individuals will bring different perspectives to the discussions. The Trust accepts that its vision of the central city of the future may not be shared by others and we would be very willing to modify our views and suggested approach in the light of what we learn in such a consultative process.

We hope that the Council will adopt a timetable to ensure that the policy process is deliberate and focused. By the next LTCCP there should be a basic agreement on what we are endeavouring to achieve long term and financial allocations for the decade ahead.

Partnership Approach

The changes we propose are not in the gift of the City Council. The Council has to convince other major players; central government,the Regional Council, other territorial authorities and service providers. The government will need to be convinced that it should shift from well established funding policies.A partnership approach with each partner, recognizing that the new situation requires new thinking, is essential. Timing is a key element. Policies must be decided to ensure that the public is presented with attractive alternatives as price changes prompt a wish to alter current practices.

Significant Issues

In our answers to the questionnaire we provide our views on the strengths and weaknesses of the central city now and the potential for the future. First, there are a few issues that we wish to highlight.

(i) Passenger Transport Coordination

The idea of transport hubs needs developing where appropriate. The most successful and used commuter train service in New Zealand terminates at the Wellington Railway Station and connects well to the city bus services. This is a sound basis for further development. The further development of bus lanes is essential if bus services are to establish the degree of required reliability. The reliability and comfort of commuter rail travel will be greatly enhanced as new rolling stock is commissioned in the next few years. This alone will provide a major boost to public transport but to realise its potential for good it has to be part of an overall strategy. We envisage that within the 30-year period the use of public transport could justify the installation of an affordable light rail system or a similar low carbon energy transport service based on proven technology.

(ii) Walkability

Wellington is already a very walkable city, and this is a comparative advantage which the city should exploit. The development of an improved public transport system and fewer private cars will provide the opportunity to enhance the pedestrian environment and provide new opportunities to make walking even more pleasurable. As Professor Jan Gehl pointed out in his 2004 City to Waterfront study, the creation of good public spaces within a pedestrian environment will provide the opportunity for people to sit and rest and watch the city.

(iii) Cycling

The Council has been giving increasing attention to the needs of cyclists in recent years but much more will need to be done by 2040.Reduced car use will provide new options as more road space is available for other users.A citywide cycle network should have been established by 2040 and the central city section, where commuters will concentrate, will require special care.Ideas from countries where cycling is a well established and accepted form of travel should be adapted by local designers to make central Wellington streets as safe and attractive for cycling as those of some European cities.

Part Two – Questionnaire

(We have excluded questions 1, 2, 8 and 9 which are directed at individuals.)

Question 3. What makes Wellington’s central city work well? Why?

Compactness is the key to the success of the central city. Not only is the area well served by public transport but it is also, compared with most other capital cities, pedestrian friendly. Much of the central area is flat and building verandas provide protection from inclement weather. The CBD is centred on the sinuous Golden Mile with Lambton Quay a street of real quality, which, through protected viewshafts, maintains contact with the harbour. In recent years a significant residential population has developed which has increased the diversity and vitality of the area. The waterfront development is now about 60 per cent complete and has greatly added to the public’s enjoyment of this waterfront city. The waterfront now offers a chain of museum and art gallery spaces of very high quality, with Te Papa exceeding all expectations in visitor numbers. Parliament’s grounds offer a pleasant and accessible area for major State events – and for public demonstrations. Westpac Stadium is a success as a national sports arena and well placed in respect of public transport facilities.

Question 4. What do you think is the main opportunity and the main threat facing Wellington’s central city now or in the future? Why?

The main opportunity is to build on the strengths identified above – the city does work well now, but it could be significantly improved. While it is now a very walkable city there is much that could be done to make the pedestrian experience a true delight. We see the catalyst to this being a significant development of public transport. The energy crisis and related climate change issues provide the opportunity to shift the emphasis on rearranging our city from one which suits motor vehicles to one where the emphasis is on the quality of living, working and playing within the centre city.

The main threat would be the failure toadopt sustainable policiesquickly, or fully enough, to take advantage of a unique set of factors. This is an opportunity to convert an intrinsically negative situation (global warming) into something positive for the public’s enjoyment of the inner city.

Question 5. If you could, what is the one thing you would change about Wellington’s central city? How would you change it and why?

The Trust believes that this ‘One Thing’ would be to alter the balance between public and private transport. But the change has to be based on gradual, purposeful and consistent actions, working with the grain of national public policy and within the tolerance of public opinion. We see that this could well work within a 30-year framework which is the tool proposed in the 2040 document. A first principle of any such change should be to give public-funding priority to public transport and not to roading. Once a new balance has been struck, the need for new roading expenditure can be more rationally assessed within the new environment. Such changes should provide a more workable city, a more pleasant city and a healthier city.

By 2040, technological developments will offer public transport options not currently available, but the city cannot afford to wait for that. The gradual and purposeful approach we recommend requires that we start now by developing and improving the existing public transport infrastructure. For the central city that means buses (diesel and electric). A greatly improved bus and rail service will help create a public transport culture that will provide a strong basis for the adoption of proven new and affordable systems as they are developed.

There are proposals currently under consideration which would involve very considerable government expenditure on SH1 in the central city. Those proposals should be reassessed in the context of a 2040 strategy. The Trust’s view is that an objective assessment in that context would show that equivalent investment in public transport around the existing road network would solve the identified bottleneck problems in the Basin Reserve area.

We accept that such fundamental policy changes are not within the gift of the City Council. A major change in the approach of central government will be required.

Question 6. What is your vision for Wellington’s central city in 2040? What does the central city look like, how does it operate, what activities does it accommodate? What should Council’s role be in this?

It looks much as it does now. The centrepiece will be the Golden Mile. While there will be more high rises along Lambton Quay, Willis and Manners Streets they will be set back to avoid canyon effects (that has not been done consistently even recently, e.g. the HSBC Building). Overall heights should be within the maximum stated in the District Plan, with only rare exceptions.

In 2040 we would find that:

• the Wellington Railway Station is a major public transport hub, but no longer a rail terminus as light rail from Johnsonville carries on through the Golden mile;
• apartment dwelling will have expanded throughout the central area, but although such dwellings will cover a wide price range, low quality ‘shoe box’ apartments ( as in Auckland) are not featured in the central area. Social housing will continue to be a responsibility of the Council and the Central City will include such accommodation;
• the entertainment zones, Courtenay Place, Cuba Street and the waterfront have retained their different and distinctive characters;
• the centre is a pedestrian friendly area providing secure and pleasant environments with minimal interference from vehicular traffic.The elderly and pushers of wheelchairs and
• prams will be able to travel freely within the centre, aided where necessary by facilities to allow them to move between levels.
• There will be facilities to meet the needs of low-energy personal transport users (whatever form they may take by 2040). There will be designated cycle lanes and attention will be given to avoiding pedestrian/cyclists conflicts (e.g the waterfront promenades);
• the Capital Centre around Parliament and the Courts will have been established with facilities to explain and showcase New Zealand’s systems of government and justice. The Centre is given its own design character through appropriate street furniture and signage. The area’s connection with the waterfront is enhanced by a redesign of Whitmore Street and its junction with the Quay;
• further inner city parks will have been created, including several from former car parks such as the Michael Fowler Centre car park;
• The Aotea Quay entrance to the City has been lined with trees and a sheltered well-designed walkway created for those cruise ship passengers who choose to walk into the CBD;
• the Memorial Park will have been completed, but city and SH1 traffic issues will have been resolved without construction of a flyover at the northern end of the Basin Reserve;
• there are more well-designed and pleasant small inner-city environments, like Chews Lane;
• remnants of old Wellington have been retained and maintained and heritage is defined to include 20th and 21st century buildings of exceptional merit;
• there is an overarching policy on signage establishing a consistency of style which helps to identify the character of the area and assists residents and visitors alike to find there way through this most walkable of cities;
• the waterfront development has been completed with high-quality new buildings on Kumutoto, Waitangi Park (including a new gallery building) and the Outer-T, the latter replacing Shed 1 and taking the opportunity to emphasise the waterfront link with the CBD by freeing the Johnston Street viewshaft;
• flexible public spaces on the waterfront are provided for Sunday markets and temporary recreational and entertainment sites;
• the city is alive to the threat of rising sea levels and appropriate action has been taken in the light of expert advice.
• The Council and citizens recognise that the Capital is vulnerable to a range of disaster events, some of which are increased by global warming.Building codes have been amended to protect people and structures and the city and its people are appropriately prepared and resourced to cope with such events.

Critical Roles for the Council

The Trust advocates an active role for the council and not one limited to infrastructure provision and maintenance.

The Council should defend and promote the viability of the central area through appropriate rating and planning policies. The CBD must retain its competitive edge as a centre for retail trading and public and private sector administration. The central city has to be able to respond positively to new opportunities for economic activity both to achieve growth and compensate for those industries where the City no longer has a competitive advantage. Current trends suggest that the economic importance of the container port may decline over the next decades. If that happens there will be land-use opportunities that will need to be assessed and exploited.

An effective low-carbon policy will reinforce the desirability of concentrating medium density development within the central area along arterial public transport routes, for example four or five storey apartments within 500 metres and three- to five-storey townhouses within 500 metres of a bus route.The District Plan should encourage such development.

Economic growth over the next 30 years will partly depend on how the housing market takes shape and how well suited it is to housing Wellington’s central area workforce. Many cities, like Wellington, have worked hard to revitalise their inner areas and now boast thriving apartment sub-markets. Some have also come to realise that providing conveniently located affordable housing for key service workers and students is equally important to future prosperity. The experience of cities like London and Toronto shows that unaffordable housing can ultimately lead to labour shortages in key sectors of the local economy. Therefore, as well as encouraging the development of more upper-end apartments, Council has an ongoing role to ensure that enough affordable housing is available for those service workers on lower wages who, nonetheless, would not qualify for Wellington City’s social housing.

The emphasis on good design, which has been a feature of the waterfront project, should be consistently applied throughout the central city, and it should not depend on incentives based on lowering District Plan standards (e.g on height and mass). We would hope that the Council, consistent with its concern to promote a sustainable city, would promote the development of ‘green’ buildings within the central area and encourage retrofitting of older buildings.

Also in relation to sustainability we would hope that Council policies and practices on waste disposal are developed and effectively implemented.

A major Council role is providing (or in some cases facilitating) and maintaining basic infrastructure. Over the next thirty years infrastructural demands will change to support new technologies. The Council will also have to guide the direction of city development through the DP. It seems likely that local government structural changes will demand, at least, a closer working relationship with regional partners. All policy makers have to anticipate the likely impact of a low-carbon environment and the impact on work and travel patterns of developing technology. In all those functions the Council has a responsibility to consult, listen and act in the knowledge and understanding of people’s views and concerns.

Question 7. Do you have any other comments or suggestions, particularly in regard to the issues mentioned in the ‘looking ahead’ section on pages 6-8 of this brochure?

The great majority of Civic Trust-convened seminars over the past twenty odd years have been concerned with aspects of the central city. A list is attached.Often the issues that have drawn together citizens and experts have related to public transport, the impact of the motor car, the quality of inner-city living and the provision of public open space.These are issues common to many cities and in our discussions we have drawn on their experiences.Wellington has not experienced the worst of the traffic congestion problems experienced elsewhere and neither have we progressed as far down the policy road as have others in the search for solutions.Many of our discussions took place before global warming and its attendant problems became a matter of general public concern.In our submission we see that climate change in fact offers an opportunity now to start addressing those issues, not only to mitigate the problems of the inner city but also to mitigate the impact of greenhouse emissions.As we said at the start of this submission this is a time of great opportunity.

Wellington Civic Trust Seminars affecting the central city, conclusions and recommendations:

• Political Heartland 1987
  The seminar endorsed the need to provide by statute additional planning and land use protection to the area around and including Parliament Buildings to ensure that the area reflects and celebrates New Zealand’s constitutional, spiritual and historical values, and that these qualities be protected and enhanced, the area so designated to be called the Parliament Centre.
• Wellington Rail Yards Seminar 1989
  Among the recommendations the seminar recommended that a light rail line, which might be an extension of the Johnsonville line, should connect to the Overseas Passenger Terminal. It was also agreed that if the Railway Yards were developed they should provide for a wide mix of uses, bearing in mind that the area was huge in relation to the existing city fabric.
• Wellington’s Open Spaces 1990
  Recommended that the Council should undertake a comprehensive Open Space Study which would include smaller areas of open space in the city centre and the suburbs.
• Transport and City Development 1993
  The Trust recommended the establishment of a joint working group to bring together relevant administrative agencies, transport providers and other interested bodies aimed at a comprehensive co-operative problem-solving of transport issues by combining their efforts towards developing a jointly agreed strategy. The working group could also deal with problems of local funding, with joint approaches to Government on matters of legislation and with information to guide public attitudes in support of local needs and strategies.
• Tourism in Wellington 1994
  The seminar agreed that the Council had a responsibility to foster tourism growth by creating the right conditions and by facilitating the involvement and support of Wellington citizens. A n arms- length organisation to promote Wellington tourism was supported. Heritage was seen as a major (ii) tourism resource and the Council had a duty to stop the heritage estate being eroded by day-to-day individual decisions of property owners.
• The Northern Gateway 1998
  Among the ideas discussed at the seminar the following have relevance for the current study. The legitimate needs of the Port of Wellington and Tranz Rail must have priority but the operators should rationalise their land holdings to enable desired changes to be made in the presentation of the Gateway area. The idea of the area providing a series of gateway vistas to the city through a combination of appropriately designed buildings, public art and greenery should be part of any plan for the area. The concept of a tree lined boulevard from Kaiwharawhara to Oriental Bay deserved attention.
• From Work Place to Living Space 2002
  This seminar focused on inner city living. The keynote address from Professor Jan Gehl advocated the development of a vibrant inner city life through reducing traffic, improving pedestrian accessibility, providing friendly open spaces and by greening the inner city wherever possible. He referred to the momentum of an increasing inner-city population – as numbers grew the city became safer, more of their needs were met, the community became more vibrant and that increased the attraction to move into the central city to live. No specific conclusions were reached at that seminar.
• Providing for Social Housing in the City 2006
  The consensus of the seminar was that social housing needs existed and were growing. Adequate and permanent social housing offered health and other gains including the maintenance of a diverse and cohesive community.
• Wellington’s City Gateway
  The seminar identified the following as among the principles to guide the development of the gateway area:
• Emphasis on developing the area as the front door to the city.
• Quality transport and pedestrian links developed between the cruise ship terminal and the CBD.
• Visual amenity of the area improved.
• Improved pedestrian and cycle pathways through and across the area.
• Extension of the rail further south into the city should be considered.
• The Harbour Quays area should be ‘mixed’ rather than office development.
• Round about the Basin 2009
  The seminar discussed several significant developments planned for the area around the Basin Reserve. The aim was to elicit information on the projects, which to some degree are inter-related, and raise awareness of their likely impacts. A call for more effective public consultation was the major outcome. Proposals affecting communities had to involve those communities in the development of options, not just in seeking their reactions to already chosen plans. While the Basin Reserve area was the focus of discussions, it was agreed that it was only one of a number of bottlenecks and the most significant issue for the capital was to get an effective public transport system able to meet the public’s needs in a future with less private-car travel due to carbon limitations and peak oil.