Cookies help us to understand how you use our website so that we can provide you with the best experience when you are on our site. To find out more, read our privacy policy and cookie policy.
Manage Cookies
A cookie is information stored on your computer by a website you visit. Cookies often store your settings for a website, such as your preferred language or location. This allows the site to present you with information customized to fit your needs. As per the GDPR law, companies need to get your explicit approval to collect your data. Some of these cookies are ‘strictly necessary’ to provide the basic functions of the website and can not be turned off, while others if present, have the option of being turned off. Learn more about our Privacy and Cookie policies. These can be managed also from our cookie policy page.
Strictly necessary cookies(always on):
Necessary for enabling core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies. This cannot be turned off. e.g. Sign in, Language
Analytics cookies:
Analytical cookies help us to analyse user behaviour, mainly to see if the users are able to find and act on things that they are looking for. They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. Tools used: Google Analytics
Social media cookies:
We use social media cookies from Facebook, Twitter and Google to run Widgets, Embed Videos, Posts, Comments and to fetch profile information.
Background to the Long-term Plan and future decisions
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinEmail this link
Consultation has concluded
Our plans don’t start from scratch every three years, each Long-term Plan builds on the previous one.
This time there are significant challenges to be addressed if we are strong foundations for the future. The proposed investment programme is the largest investment we have ever made in our city. It includes fixing the pipes, climate change, a viable social housing, waste infrastructure, transport, arts and culture and recovering from COVID-19.
Challenges
The city faces some big challenges:
Infrastructure
Housing and Urban Development
Much of our infrastructure, particularly three waters and transport networks, requires additional investment to make it more reliable and to meet the needs of our growing city.
Housing affordability is a challenge as the city grows. Council contributes through a range of housing interventions including:
providing sustainable and quality social housing; and.
We have a key challenge in responding to climate change in line with the Council’s declaration of a climate emergency and adoption of itsTe Atakura Strategy. In addition, the city has ambitions around the natural environment and waste minimisation that requires Council investment
The Council has been developing the city’s resilience for decades. As a result of the 2016 Kaikoura and other earthquakes we need to do more earthquake strengthening across the city, on our infrastructure and many venues. There are also big additional costs such as funding the pop-up libraries opened due to the closure of theCentral Libraryand the increasing costs of our insurance.
Some of these challenges are common across the country, but we also have cost pressures that are unique to Wellington. They mainly come from community demand and meeting government regulations. So there is pressure on our budget which contributes to the proposed rates increases and for some of our fees and user charges (non-rates revenue).More revenue helps minimise the impact of the increasing costs to rates.
Community outcomes and priorities
To help prioritise our Long-term Plan investment and with community input we developed a Community Outcomes Framework to put community environmental, social, cultural; and economic wellbeing at the centre of our planning. You can read more about the detailed community response and overall strategic direction in our consultation document. The outcomes are:
Environmental: A sustainable, climate friendly eco capital
Social: A people friendly, compact, safe, and accessible capital city
Cultural: An innovative, inclusive, and creative city
Economic: A dynamic and sustainable economy
A city where the natural environment is being preserved, biodiversity improved, natural resources are used sustainably, and the city is mitigating and adapting to climate change – for now and future generations
An inclusive, liveable, and resilient city where people and communities can learn, are connected, well housed, safe, and healthy
Wellington is a vibrant, creative city with the energy and opportunity to connect, collaborate, explore identities, and openly express, preserve, and enjoy arts, culture, and heritage
The city is attracting and developing creative talent to enterprises across the city, creating jobs through innovation and growth while working towards an environmentally sustainable future.
For the next three years we have six priority objectives to focus on - which are based on community feedback:
Strong partnerships with mana whenua
An accelerating zero-carbon and waste-free transition
A functioning, resilient and reliable three waters infrastructure
Wellington has affordable, resilient, and safe housing
The city has resilient and fit-for-purpose community, creative and cultural spaces
The city’s core transport infrastructure is a safe, resilient, reliable network
Decisions coming up
Alongside our Big Decisions, we have key issues that are important to Wellington and could have big costs associated with them. For many of these decisions we will need to leave headroom in our debt limit to fund them in the future or, find alternate methods of funding. The decisions are:
Three waters reform (see also the Auditor's opinion on pages 72-74 of the consultation document below or from the document library on right of this page)
Let’s Get Wellington Moving
Community Infrastructure investments
Affordable Housing
City Housing financial sustainability (see also the Auditor's opinion pages 72-74 of the consultation document below or from the document library on right of this page)
The decisions on these issues are yet to be made and we will consult on them closer to the time. There is a lot more detail on our strategic direction in the consultation document.
Our plans don’t start from scratch every three years, each Long-term Plan builds on the previous one.
This time there are significant challenges to be addressed if we are strong foundations for the future. The proposed investment programme is the largest investment we have ever made in our city. It includes fixing the pipes, climate change, a viable social housing, waste infrastructure, transport, arts and culture and recovering from COVID-19.
Challenges
The city faces some big challenges:
Infrastructure
Housing and Urban Development
Much of our infrastructure, particularly three waters and transport networks, requires additional investment to make it more reliable and to meet the needs of our growing city.
Housing affordability is a challenge as the city grows. Council contributes through a range of housing interventions including:
providing sustainable and quality social housing; and.
We have a key challenge in responding to climate change in line with the Council’s declaration of a climate emergency and adoption of itsTe Atakura Strategy. In addition, the city has ambitions around the natural environment and waste minimisation that requires Council investment
The Council has been developing the city’s resilience for decades. As a result of the 2016 Kaikoura and other earthquakes we need to do more earthquake strengthening across the city, on our infrastructure and many venues. There are also big additional costs such as funding the pop-up libraries opened due to the closure of theCentral Libraryand the increasing costs of our insurance.
Some of these challenges are common across the country, but we also have cost pressures that are unique to Wellington. They mainly come from community demand and meeting government regulations. So there is pressure on our budget which contributes to the proposed rates increases and for some of our fees and user charges (non-rates revenue).More revenue helps minimise the impact of the increasing costs to rates.
Community outcomes and priorities
To help prioritise our Long-term Plan investment and with community input we developed a Community Outcomes Framework to put community environmental, social, cultural; and economic wellbeing at the centre of our planning. You can read more about the detailed community response and overall strategic direction in our consultation document. The outcomes are:
Environmental: A sustainable, climate friendly eco capital
Social: A people friendly, compact, safe, and accessible capital city
Cultural: An innovative, inclusive, and creative city
Economic: A dynamic and sustainable economy
A city where the natural environment is being preserved, biodiversity improved, natural resources are used sustainably, and the city is mitigating and adapting to climate change – for now and future generations
An inclusive, liveable, and resilient city where people and communities can learn, are connected, well housed, safe, and healthy
Wellington is a vibrant, creative city with the energy and opportunity to connect, collaborate, explore identities, and openly express, preserve, and enjoy arts, culture, and heritage
The city is attracting and developing creative talent to enterprises across the city, creating jobs through innovation and growth while working towards an environmentally sustainable future.
For the next three years we have six priority objectives to focus on - which are based on community feedback:
Strong partnerships with mana whenua
An accelerating zero-carbon and waste-free transition
A functioning, resilient and reliable three waters infrastructure
Wellington has affordable, resilient, and safe housing
The city has resilient and fit-for-purpose community, creative and cultural spaces
The city’s core transport infrastructure is a safe, resilient, reliable network
Decisions coming up
Alongside our Big Decisions, we have key issues that are important to Wellington and could have big costs associated with them. For many of these decisions we will need to leave headroom in our debt limit to fund them in the future or, find alternate methods of funding. The decisions are:
Three waters reform (see also the Auditor's opinion on pages 72-74 of the consultation document below or from the document library on right of this page)
Let’s Get Wellington Moving
Community Infrastructure investments
Affordable Housing
City Housing financial sustainability (see also the Auditor's opinion pages 72-74 of the consultation document below or from the document library on right of this page)
The decisions on these issues are yet to be made and we will consult on them closer to the time. There is a lot more detail on our strategic direction in the consultation document.
Background to the Long-term Plan and future decisions is currently at this stage
This consultation is open for contributions.
Under Review
this is an upcoming stage for Background to the Long-term Plan and future decisions
Contributions to this consultation are closed for evaluation and review. The project team will report back on key outcomes.
Final report
this is an upcoming stage for Background to the Long-term Plan and future decisions
The final outcomes of the consultation are documented here. This may include a summary of all contributions collected as well as recommendations for future action.