Draft Wellington Urban Growth Plan Summary
2014 – 2043
Wellington City Council

Please note that the print version of this document contains more images and photos. If you wish to view them, please refer to the corresponding pdf document online, or at your local library, or you can request your own copy by calling 499 4444.

Introduction
Wellington City’s population is expected to grow from the current 200,000 to approximately 250,000 over the next 30 years and to become more diverse. Our Wellington Urban Growth Plan – outlined in brief in this document - ensures that as the city’s population increases, new houses, infrastructure and services are developed sustainably and in areas that benefit the city the most so that residents continue to enjoy a world-class quality of life. 
The plan is action-focused and builds on, updates and replaces our existing urban development and transport strategies. It seeks to preserve the city’s character, keep it compact and connected to nature, and ensure we have an efficient, sustainable and accessible transport network. 
The plan is the Council’s guide for directing investment and supporting development in growth areas – a blueprint for prioritising and managing future growth. This includes the regeneration of existing urban areas, investment in the transport network and other infrastructure, the development of new housing areas, and the delivery of improved public spaces. As well as accommodating extra people in the city, the plan ensures the quality of our natural environment is maintained and enhanced, places of historical value are preserved, and the city is prepared for the risks posed by natural hazards and climate change. 
The plan helps to achieve our long-term vision, Wellington Towards 2040: Smart Capital, and sits alongside our strategies for economic development, the environment, social and recreation facilities, and governance. It also helps put into effect a number of existing Council policies and action plans such as our Central City Framework, Climate Change Action Plan, Biodiversity Action Plan, and Centres Policy. 
It will support Council decisions on planning and investment and provide certainty for the city’s stakeholders – developers, central government, iwi, other councils, architects, planners, ratepayers and residents. 
We think it will be a catalyst for positive change.
This is a summary of the Wellington Urban Growth Plan. We encourage you to read the full document at Wellington.govt.nz/urbangrowth and tell us what you think by 13 October 2014.

Key outcomes
A compact city
The city’s urban areas are surrounded by the Town Belt and the reserves, rural land and hilltops that form the Outer Green Belt. This has led to the city being compact, which is one of the it’s distinctive features. It also makes our city walkable and helps minimise the need for new infrastructure. To keep Wellington compact, this plan directs future development to locations with quality transport links, infrastructure and community facilities. 
A liveable city
The central city is the main economic, social and cultural hub of the region. It is walkable, lively, attractive and safe. At a local level, suburban centres provide a focus for community life and access to shops and services. This plan supports vibrant centres through a range of projects. 
A city set in nature
The city’s distinctive character and appeal is enhanced by protecting our natural environment, managing our heritage assets, increasing our resilience and making sure people can easily get to the waterfront and other open spaces. To achieve this, the plan emphasises the importance of better green infrastructure such as open spaces, trees and waterways; sustainable transport options; low-impact urban development and water sensitive urban design; energy-efficient buildings; and stronger buildings and structures.

Our Action Plan
Our focus areas 
This section sets out the Council’s actions for specific components of the city – urban development, transport, infrastructure, and open spaces. The actions are grouped under the following six focus areas:
Transformational growth areas
Liveable and vibrant centres
Real transport choices 
Housing supply and choice
Natural environment
City resilience 
Each focus area outlines a series of projects and actions seen as important in shaping the future growth and development of the city with particular emphasis on the next 10 years. 

Transformational growth areas
This plan will deliver positive urban development in locations suitable for growth. Our approach builds on the previously identified growth spine, directing development towards the central city, Adelaide Road, Johnsonville and Kilbirnie. The benefits of the growth spine approach include: improving the efficiency of infrastructure; retaining the character of established residential areas; providing opportunities for people to live close to where they work and to use public transport; and concentrating investment into a smaller number of centres.
In addition to the growth spine, the plan provides a mix of development opportunities. This includes greenfield areas with significant capacity for development.  It also includes supporting the important economic hubs around the port and the airport.
1. The Council will activate identified growth areas
To do this, we will:
•	deliver the Convention Centre
•	transform Victoria Street into a vibrant area 
•	plan for new development in east Te Aro
•	plan for improvements around the Civic Centre
•	deliver the Adelaide Road Framework
•	support new developments in Johnsonville and Kilbirnie town centres
•	deliver the Northern Wellington Growth Plan
•	plan for the development of Stebbings Valley.
2. Support the development of the port and the airport as economic hubs
To do this, we will:
•	improve transport connections to the airport
•	support future airport growth
•	contribute to the Port Access Plan.

Liveable and vibrant centres
We want to ensure that our centres are attractive, accessible and convenient, leading to new business investment and more people spending time in them. We will support our main streets and centres and the areas earmarked for medium-density housing around them so they are attractive and ready to support growth.
With more people expected to live in the central city, we need to improve the quality of the streets and places where residential growth is going to occur. 
1. Deliver improvements in the central city and key centres
To do this, we will:
•	complete the development of the waterfront
•	continue improving our laneways
•	continue to improve the Parliamentary precinct and north Lambton Quay
•	work on transforming Victoria Street, Taranaki Street and Kent and Cambridge Terraces into city boulevards.
2. Plan for future investment in suburban centres 
To do this, we will:
•	continue our centres upgrade programme
•	prepare town centre action plans for key locations
•	identify investment priority for main streets
•	support new Business Improvement Districts.

Real transport choices
We want people to have reliable, efficient, healthy and environmentally-friendly transport options. We plan to encourage and prioritise walking, cycling and public transport over other modes of transport. However, cars will continue to be a necessary option for many people and vehicles are needed for the movement of freight throughout the city. 
Our role is to make sure transport choices are coordinated to support our urban and economic growth, including managing demand. 
1. Make Wellington a better city for cycling
To do this, we will:
•	deliver cycling facilities to Island Bay, Newtown and the central city
•	better connect the central area with the northern and eastern suburbs and with the Hutt Valley
•	deliver the Great Harbour Way
•	coordinate cycle improvements with bus priority plans
•	provide cycle training
•	provide bicycle parking in the CBD and suburban centres.
2. Improve pedestrian accessibility and safety
To do this, we will:
•	make the city more pedestrian-friendly
•	improve pedestrian safety.
3. Encourage more public transport use
To do this, we will:
•	help deliver a rapid transit spine through the city
•	work with Greater Wellington Regional Council to improve the quality of public transport.
4. Improve the road network
To do this, we will:
•	maximise benefits to the city from the Roads of National Significance programme
•	work with NZTA on the proposed Petone to Grenada road
•	support the delivery of Transmission Gully 
•	review the management of our street network.
5. Manage parking more efficiently
To do this, we will:
•	refresh our on-street parking strategy.

Housing supply and choice
We need to ensure there is enough housing for the growth we expect (approximately 21,400 additional dwellings by 2043), and that it is good quality and in the right locations. We also need to make sure that the type of housing we encourage is what we will need in the future, taking into account changing demographics. Medium-density housing presents an opportunity for providing some of the additional homes we need.
1. Focus on medium-density housing opportunities
To do this, we will:
•	support delivery of medium-density housing
•	investigate housing demonstration projects
•	plan future medium-density areas.
2. Encourage a mix of housing types and more affordable options
To do this, we will: 
•	implement the Wellington City Housing Accord 
•	update our planning framework to support compact housing forms.

Natural environment 
Our green belts, streams and coastline help define the layout and character of the city. We recognise the ecological, recreational, health and wellbeing benefits of our natural assets and the need to align our investment accordingly. 
1. Enhance our existing natural environmental assets
To do this, we will:
•	grow our biodiversity 
•	continue to implement the Open Spaces and Recreation Framework for Wellington
•	work on a new heritage reserve at Watts Peninsula, Miramar.
2. Reduce the environmental impacts of urban development and transport
To do this, we will:
•	plan for water catchment as we grow
•	promote low-impact and water-sensitive design
•	advocate for low-carbon development and transport
•	encourage green standards for new buildings.

City resilience
We lead the country in terms of resilience management through identifying earthquake-prone buildings, planning for emergencies and preparing for climate change.  We are committed to maintaining this leadership role and want to support the continued improvement of the city’s building stock and infrastructure to make them more resilient.
1. Continue to provide leadership in resilience
To do this, we will:
•	prioritise the upgrade of critical infrastructure
•	continue to improve our coastal resilience
•	secure and protect emergency lifelines
•	support the strengthening of key earthquake-prone heritage buildings
•	complete the seismic strengthening of the Council’s critical buildings.

How you can have your say
We are keen to hear from you to help shape the way we manage growth. This is a summary of what we have planned. We encourage you to read the full document and fill out the submission form that is available online, or visit your local library.
•	Online: Wellington.govt.nz/urbangrowthplan
•	Email: growthplan@wcc.govt.nz
•	Post: Wellington City Council, Att. Lucie Desrosiers, PO Box 2199, Wellington 6140
Feedback must be received by 5pm on 13 October 2014. 
Next Steps
The Wellington Urban Growth Plan will be finalised following the consultation. It will be presented to Councillors in November to be formally adopted.
Long-term Plan
The priority projects identified in this plan will inform decisions on the Council’s 2015-25 Long-term Plan.