A City for People

🎉 Our councillors voted for a city built for people! 🎉

We’re thrilled that the Wellington City Council passed a strong District Plan today, and that all 5 of our asks were included.

That means:
✅ City centre height limits lifted
✅ Walkable catchments around the city set to 15 minutes
✅ The Johnsonville train line classified as rapid transit (with 10 minute walking catchments implemented around each station)
✅ Medium Density Residential Standards implemented
✅ Character areas reduced by 75%

This is HUGE.

The Council has voted for a city where current and future generations of Wellingtonians can live in safe, affordable homes and connected, resilient communities.

Since Council rejected the Independent Hearing Panel’s report in order to pass this Plan, it now needs to go to Minister of Housing Chris Bishop for final approval. We’re almost there - we just need him to give the last sign off.

We’ll let you know how to show Minister Bishop your support for this new District Plan that Wellington deserves. But for now, we celebrate!

🗓️ Wellington City Council is passing its new, once-in-a-generation District Plan today. 🗓️

This is an opportunity for change.

We want a city built for people. A city all of us can share; where there are enough homes for everyone, and it’s easy to get around. A city where we have choices about the types of homes we want to live in, and which communities we want to put down roots in.

We can live in this Wellington if we choose to. We just need our city councillors to represent us at the decision making table today.

➡️ If you’d like to show you care about the District Plan, and that you’re watching the decisions of your councillors, consider attending some (or all) of the meeting today. It kicks off at 10.30am in the Council meeting room at 113 The Terrace.

If you’re busy earning enough to afford to live in Wellington, you can also watch a livestream of the proceedings, or read about them on The Spinoff’s live blog.

Livestream: youtube.com/live/0-Rj9d9Jnas?si=GnBn3sDG44rfKS3V

Live blog: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/14-03-2024/live-updates-wellington-city-council-votes-on-the-district-plan

See you on the other side, e hoa mā 💜

🌟 Councillors are often very affected by the personal stories they hear directly from their constituents. Your stories stick with them and motivate them to make decisions with your future in mind. Your stories are powerful 🌟

The Wellington City Council is voting on the District Plan tomorrow, and now’s the perfect time to tell your councillors why you support our five asks. Send them an email to remind them you’re paying attention, and that if they want your vote in future, they need to earn it.

We’ve put together an email template and collated their contact details. Feel free to use our template as a guide, and remember that the more personalised the email, the better: https://cityforpeople.nz/p/yes?fbclid=IwAR3EyE78mToL7MYbwg4MpFMzjav-ukRbO97mfvrEm_7I8_7yejxPDFQVvkg

Catch you tomorrow for the big vote! 🎉

📢We marched from Civic Square to Newtown for a liveable city! 📢

And when we say “marched”, it was really more of a stroll… since lots of us commute by walking every day 😅

The Independent Hearing Panel advising Wellington City Council on its District Plan says we don’t need to zone for heaps more housing in Newtown, because it’s unreasonable to assume people who walk to work also walk home.

🎉 We proved them wrong! 🎉

The Council votes for its once-in-a-generation District Plan on March 14th. We need your help to tell councillors that we deserve a city with enough safe and affordable housing for all, where people can choose where they want to live and how they want to get around.

Please email your local councillor (or all of them!) calling for a District Plan that promotes a city for people. A template, along with the email addresses of your councillors, is below 💜

Template email: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OU-dBN_Qz9wWpsoRXlbKEyy59p4-57YG_X4iCbwUWVY/edit?usp=sharing

Email addresses of your councillors: https://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/about-the-council/mayor-and-councillors/councillors #:~:text=How%20to%20contact%20Councillors,%40wcc.govt.nz.

🎉 It’s today! 🎉

We’ve never felt so much anticipation for walking home. After all, heaps of Wellingtonians do it every day.

But this time we’re doing it for our city’s future. We want Wellington City Councillors to sign off on a District Plan that promotes a dense, walkable city where everyone lives in a safe and affordable home.

Catch you at 5.30pm today at Civic Square for our march to Newtown. Come dressed in your best athleisure gear for full comic effect 🎽👟

Our finish line will be Bebemos, where we can grab drinks and trade battle stories of the 3km trek 😅

🟣💛 Accessibility information 💛🟣

We’re gearing up for an awesome walk to Newtown on Monday - we can’t wait to meet you all!

Here are some notes on accessibility:

- We’ve mapped out a route that will keep us clear of any stairs or other obstacles

- If you’d like support during the event with anything accessibility related, let one of the organisers or City for People volunteers know and we’ll make sure you’re accommodated

- Organisers have taken note of accessible toilet facilities on or near the route, so check in with them if you need to use a rest room at any point during the march

If you have any questions or suggestions on how we can make this event more accessible please let us know by sending us a message!

Meet you there: tinyurl.com/Our-Walk-Home

🏃‍♀️If anyone’s looking to go the extra (walkable) mile tomorrow, we have a side quest for you! 🏃🏽

We’re looking for people to really ham up the exercise vibe of this - imagine the most sarcastic marathon you’ve ever run. Now replace the 42k run with a 3km walk. That’s the vibe.

Bring your elite running gear, your speed glasses, your camelbacks, your fluoro exercise kit - whatever screams ‘this takes more effort than you could possibly imagine’. Best dressed gets a shout out on our socials!

PS - there WILL be an aid station at some point during the walk for maximum satire 🎽🚰⛑️

See you tomorrow: https://t.co/LTYxIbMQXm

A City for People has 5 asks for the Wellington City Council when it votes for the new District Plan on March 14th:

1️⃣ Raise building height limits in the city centre or remove them altogether

2️⃣ Increase what’s considered “walkable” from 10 minutes to 15 minutes

3️⃣ Recognise that the Johnsonville train line and the Newtown bus route are “mass rapid transit” routes

4️⃣ Apply the Medium Density Residential Standards consistently across the whole city

5️⃣ Keep special character areas the same size agreed to in the Spatial Plan

This is a once-in-a-generation chance to fix Wellington’s planning rules so that we can build enough safe and affordable housing for all 🏘️

Sound like something you support, too? Meet us in Civic Square at 5.30pm on March 11th to march for Wellington’s future. Check out the event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/930769928515159

You all packed out our public meeting for Wellington’s future! 🎉

It’s clear that Wellingtonians want city councillors to vote for a sensible District Plan on March 14 so that all generations can share the city we love.

Thank you to our panelists who shared their expertise on the benefits of dense, walkable cities that provide enough housing for everyone. Changing our planning rules would curb countless preventable illnesses, stimulate our local economy, and encourage our arts and culture scene to thrive again!

We also heard from Ayesha Verrall MP (Wellington spokesperson for Labour) and Tamatha Paul MP (Wellington and housing spokesperson for the Green Party) about their dreams for a city where all current and future residents have a safe and healthy home.

There’s no reason that has to stay a dream!

🌟See you next Monday for our march to Newtown ahead of the City Council District Plan vote 🌟

🟨🟪 Our speaker line up has dropped! 🟪🟨

We can’t wait to see you this Thursday at our public meeting to protect Wellington’s future. Join us to express your concerns about the District Plan recommendations, demand action from Councillors, and learn from the experts 💡

Tickets are free but our venue has limited capacity, so register here to make sure your voice is heard: https://tinyurl.com/City-for-People-public-meeting

Have your seen our posters around town? More homes in Wellington means a city for people 💜

We’d love to hear what more homes in our city would mean for you ⬇️

📣We’re convening an urgent public meeting in response to the Independent Hearing Panel's recommendations for Wellington's District Plan 📣

Join us on March 6th to:
📃 Express your concerns about the findings and recommendations of the of the IHP
✊ Demand action from Wellington City Councillors ahead of their pivotal District Plan meeting on March 14th
💡 Learn from leading experts about the social and economic implications of the IHP recommendations, and why WCC must make amendments to support the progress on housing that Wellington needs

Your attendance is vital to making your voice heard. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/city-for-people-public-meeting-protect-wellingtons-future-tickets-847704766777?aff=oddtdtcreator

🌟 We packed out Urbanerds last night with supporters of building a City for People! 🌟

Our volunteers spoke alongside Joel MacManus of The Spinoff about the importance of Council’s upcoming District Plan vote, and ensuring Wellington’s current and future residents can live in affordable, healthy homes.

Ngā mihi nui to Urbanerds and to everyone who came along to learn more about the campaign!

Our volunteers are heading to the next Urbanerds meetup on Tuesday - one of our favourite spots to meet fellow fans of thriving cities!

We’ll be chatting about the campaign alongside Joel MacManus, who’ll share insight into his The Spinoff War for Wellington project.

We’d love to meet you over a (discounted) drink! Register here: https://www.urbanerds.org/calendar

Join us on our special day xoxo

Wellington City Council has published the key briefings and meeting dates on the District Plan: https://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/plans-policies-and-bylaws/district-plan/proposed-district-plan/decision-making-process

It’s time to put pressure on Wellington City Council (again) and make sure councillors vote for more housing.

In 2021, we successfully campaigned for an ambitious Spatial Plan for Wellington that would enable our city to build more homes. But the Spatial Plan is not legally binding – it’s just a blueprint. We need to make sure councillors carry the ambition of the Spatial Plan into the new District Plan: the rulebook for the next 30 years.

We’ve heard that Wellington City Council will be finalising the new District Plan in March 2024. Councillors must say YES to building more homes in our city!

https://cityforpeople.nz/our-asks

"A city is not a museum. It is home, for all one and a half million of us, and it is meant to evolve to reflect us as we grow up."

"This is what will be debated in Parliament over these next two weeks; whether we learn to live together in the best way for all of us, or preserve places and spaces where some of us are unwelcome."

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/chloe-swarbrick-we-need-more-homes-but-where/TU7LEAHWK7FP3TORW4HS6L3HHA/

Chlöe Swarbrick: We need more homes, but where? - NZ Herald OPINION: Housing is a human right and we've all got to find a way to live together.

🚃 Submissions on the Let's Get Welly Moving consultation close this Friday! And then the District Plan and Bike Network Plan close next Tuesday!

Make sure you have your say, and tell Council and Government to enable abundant affordable housing alongside quality, low-carbon transport solutions: https://www.cityforpeople.org.nz/take_action

Now is the time to tell council you want an inclusive, accessible and livable city for people! It is crucial that our progressive vision is heard loud and clear by the decision makers - and it only takes 5 mins to submit: https://www.cityforpeople.org.nz/take_action

🎨 Enter our colouring competition!

Colour in our illustration to show everyone what the future of Wellington could look like. Share it with your friends, and be in to win prizes!

Details here: https://www.cityforpeople.org.nz/colouring_competition

🎉 Time to submit on !

https://www.cityforpeople.org.nz/take_action

Let’s Get Wellington Moving, the District Plan, and the Bike Network Plan (together known as Our City Tomorrow) can guarantee affordable, quality, and accessible homes for all, and healthy, quiet, equitable streets in a thriving city connected by low-carbon bike lanes, light rail, and buses.

Transformative action depends on Wellington City Council hearing our voice. Too often, Councils only hear voices defending the status quo; voices who are against public transport, against biking, and against new housing.

In just under 5 minutes, you can send a message to Council that you want an inclusive, accessible and livable city for people! It is crucial that our progressive vision is heard loud and clear by the decision makers: https://www.cityforpeople.org.nz/take_action

A City For People - a coalition of Generation Zero, Cycle Wellington, Renters United, and others - welcomes the proposals from Our City Tomorrow, and say these plans must create a sustainable, liveable, and connected city.

Through Let’s Get Wellington Moving, the District Plan, and the Bike Network Plan, implementing the right transport and housing package for Wellington will ensure that everyone has access to affordable, quality housing along active and public transport routes that reduce emissions and connect our city.

Decisions about transport and urban planning are deeply interlinked, not just with each other, but with protection of the climate, increasing affordable housing, and improving quality of life.

We will be campaigning for as many people as possible to submit on these three transformational plans for our city over the next six weeks, supporting our elected representatives to implement ambitious plans that deliver for people and the planet.

We can have a city with abundant, affordable, quality, and accessible housing, in thriving communities full of green space and native bush, served by high-capacity, frequent, and sustainable light rail and buses, and connected by a network of safe bike routes. There is massive opportunity within these three plans, and it’s crucial that Wellington City fully embraces this opportunity at this critical moment.

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK2111/S00055/a-city-for-people-welcomes-the-our-city-tomorrow-proposals.htm

A City For People Welcomes The Our City Tomorrow Proposals A City For People - a coalition of Generation Zero, Cycle Wellington, Renters United, and others - welcomes the proposals from Our City Tomorrow, and say these plans must create a sustainable, liveable, and connected city. Through Let’s Get Wellington ...

This is awesome news! It's great to see Council hearing the loud voices of council housing tenants, and ensuring that they'll be at the table deciding the future of council housing and working to solve the unaffordable rents.

Now it's up to the Government to step up and extend Income-Related Rent Subsidies to council housing, so tenants can afford their rent and Councils are able to maintain and expand their housing stock. We need to be pulling all levers to take on this housing crisis!

Well done to IRRS 4 ALL! 👏

https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/126732766/mayoral-taskforce-to-tackle-wellington-councils-social-housing-crisis

Mayoral taskforce to tackle Wellington council's social housing crisis Some of the council's tenants facing “everyday hardship” will take part in a taskforce that aims to solve the problem of unaffordable rents.

A City for People, Generation Zero, and Renters United welcome the cross-partisan announcement today that the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) will be strengthened with a fast-tracked medium-density zone and its implementation brought forward by a year.

Many housing-hesitant councils have taken a conservative reading of the NPS-UD’s requirements and its positive effects wouldn’t have been in place until 2024. This new cross-partisan reform is to be celebrated. It is a vital step to tackling our housing crisis by ensuring people’s right to a quality home is paramount. The real character of our cities are people and thriving communities.

This reform is welcome but is not enough. Other levers need to be pulled too to allow everyone to live with dignity: generous rental subsidies, accessible housing, support for papakāinga developments, and investments in sustainable water, open space and transport infrastructure.

https://www.rentersunited.org.nz/housing-environmental-groups-celebrate-cross-partisan-reform-of-urban-planning-rules/

Most of these houses (to little surprise) are currently 'character protected', preventing these mouldy and rotting buildings from being easily replaced with new warm, dry, affordable and accessible homes.

Tomorrow Wellington City Councillors will vote on whether or not they prioritise ending our housing crisis over the protection of damp, rotten, 'character' precincts. We think the choice is clear.

Sign our petition to demand our Councillors back an ambitious spatial plan that enables affordable, quality, and accessible homes for all in our city: https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/we-want-more-homes-for-all-in-wellington-pass-an-ambitious-spatial-plan

Who is Wellington’s Next Top Mould-el? Wellington’s most mouldy flat is finally getting the recognition it deserves. A City for People shares the grand prize winner of Wellington’s Next Top Mould-el, plus spot prizes. Mushrooms, perma-soggy floors, and mummified rats: the biodiversity of our capital city’s “character”-filled re...

Tomorrow morning our City Councillors will be voting on whether or not they enable affordable, quality, and accessible homes for all in our city.

Sign our petition to show them we want an ambitious Spatial Plan: https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/we-want-more-homes-for-all-in-wellington-pass-an-ambitious-spatial-plan

There's just 2 days until Wellington City Council votes on enabling affordable, quality, and accessible homes for all in our city.

Sign our petition calling on our Councillors to back an ambitious Spatial plan: https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/we-want-more-homes-for-all-in-wellington-pass-an-ambitious-spatial-plan

We've got over 1000 signatures on our petition calling on our Wellington City Councillors to pass an ambitious Spatial Plan this Thursday.

We want a plan that enables affordable, quality, and accessible homes for all in our city.

Sign here: https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/we-want-more-homes-for-all-in-wellington-pass-an-ambitious-spatial-plan

Sign our petition calling on our City Councillors to enable affordable, quality, and accessible homes for all in our city: https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/we-want-more-homes-for-all-in-wellington-pass-an-ambitious-spatial-plan