Podcast appearances and mentions of Wellington City Council

Businesses in the capital are looking forward to more certainty, with the controversial Golden Mile project now officially canned. Councillors voted yesterday to scrap the CBD upgrade plan in favour of more modest upgrades. It follows a review last week finding further budget blowouts were likely. Wellington Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Hayley Horan told Mike Hosking businesses want a more vibrant city and are now feeling like they're at the table. She says the years of reviews and re-scopes have been exhausting, so having a decision beats another year of limbo. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Wellington City Council has officially ended the dream of the Golden Mile after voting to scrap the project Wellington City Mayor Andrew Little joins Nick Mills to discuss the next steps to improve the area - while keeping it affordable. He says it's important to get the balance right, but something must be done to Courtenay Place. "We have to do what's right for the city right now." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A push for the Wellington City Council to rethink its city centre as costs for the Golden Mile project spiral. It's now forecast to cost $220 million, up from $139 million, with an independent review warning further blowouts are possible. The project would deliver major pedestrian, cycling, and public transport upgrades. Deputy Mayor Ben McNulty told Heather du Plessis-Allan the council needs to look at doing something different. He says it can't sustain these costs, particularly in a rates-capping environment. McNulty says councillors will consider the latest review before making a final decision next week. He says they can choose to end the project but still rejuvenate nightlife hub Courtney Place in other ways. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Friday Faceoff and this week Nick is joined in the studio by Infrastructure NZ CEO Nick Leggett and Wellington's Chamber of Commerce CEO Hayley Horan. It's a post-budget day special. Yesterday Nicola Willis released her much anticipated budget, the panel dissect the winners, the losers and what they think is missing from this year's "sugar-free" budget. We hear what Horan has heard from businesses, does the budget lack vision? And what does it do for Wellington? Then onto Wellington City Council who had a week of ups and downs. A lower-than-expected rates rise was announced at 5.9%, yet a day later it was released they spent 600 thousand on a promotional website for the new library. They share their thoughts on the 600k pay cheque and sending the job out to Auckland. And what is hoing on with the spending culture on the council? Horan and Leggett also talk Takina - are we getting the best use out of it? And the panel share their hots and a not of the week. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington City Council has proposed their lowest rates rise since 2020, at 5.8%. Deputy Mayor of Wellington Ben McNulty joins the show to discuss the news and how the council managed to cut the rise down from 7.4%, after an already substantial decrease from the last prediction. Nick asks how this adds up with the inclusion of separate water bills and how this compares to Auckland. McNulty says there are still "ghosts in the walls" that need shaking out, so we should expect more poor spending announcements before cost cutting becomes consistent. And he shares how the spending culture has changed since Mayor Andrew Little has come into power. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington's Citizen Advice Bureau (CAB) is facing an unpredictable future, as the Wellington City Council cuts their funding by 60%. The council announced CAB will go from receiving around $230,000 to $100,000. CAB General Manager Carin Sundstedt joins Nick Mills on the show to discuss the impact this will cause to not only CAB but all of Wellington, The service helped around 11,000 people last year alone and has three full time staff who support around 125 volunteers. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Citizens Advice Bureau is facing significant funding challenges. Wellington City Council decided yesterday to effectively halve its funding for the local bureau, leaving the free independent service reeling. Citizen Advice Bureau CEO, Kerry Dalton spoke to Lisa Owen. 

Wellington City Council is set to cut $650,000 of social and recreation funding, impacting community services and locations like swimming pools, library, arts and culture events and sports fields. Capital Football CEO Richard Reid is concerned more costs will be put on local families if the cuts go ahead. Reid also suggests payments to the Wellington council from using sports fields is much more than other NZ cities. He says someone has got their facts wrong "and it ain't us". See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Don't kill off funding for arts and culture, that's the message a jazz funeral band's delivered to Wellington City Council today, along with a petition asking it to rethink budget cuts. The council's looking at slashing more than $400,000 of funding that goes to arts and events grants and venue subsidies. Arts Wellington is one of the advocacy groups behind the petition, co-chair Kirsten Mason spoke to Lisa Owen.

Its Friday Faceoff, this week Nick is joined in the studio by Director of NZ Infrastructure Commission and former Wellington City Councillor Tim Brown and Raygun co-founder and CEO JD Trask to discuss the hot topics of the week. Starting with Super. The OECD has released a report that yet again tells NZ we need to make changes to the pension. Brown and Trask talk the age of super annuation, means testing, KiwiSaver. The panel dive into the argument to have the super indexed by life expectancy. Them onto amalgamation - have the councils had their priorities wrong the whole time? Would be able to compete with Auckland and Christchurch is we became more efficient and banded together? The panel look at the pros and struggles of bringing four Wellington basin cities together in three months. Next up - who is running the Wellington City Council - is it the officials or the council? The panel discuss the news of the personal grievance payout allowance - where the senior management made a decision behind the back of elected officials. They look at the leadership system and the CEO - is it actually democratic? Who is in charge? Then water meter charges - Brown says it should only cost around $80 million, not the $590 million estimated by Tiaki Wai. The panel discuss the charges, how it would work and how they think it should be done. And reminisce over the past cost blow outs that have hit the city. And onto our panel's thoughts on Dr Eziekel Emanuel's comments on the lack of funding and updated technology compared to other countries. They look into the gradual increase of AI and robotics in our health system. Plus Brown and Trask give their hots and nots. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 7 May, 2026, Steve Lancaster is finally confirmed as the new chief executive of New Zealand Rugby. We talk about the prospect of an Anzac test. Conservation Minister Tama Potaka on changes that could see reserve land put up for sale. Youthline chief executive Shae Ronald tells us about the biggest issues confronting those aged 12 to 24. And on The Huddle, Mark Sainsbury and Thomas Scrimgeour are aghast at Wellington City Council's highest earners still potentially getting "golden handshakes" if they're fired. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Now, you would have thought that after all the publicity Wellington City Council has been getting - and the paid staff have been getting - for being caught doing things behind the backs of elected councillors, they probably wouldn't do it again. And yet, here we are. They've been caught doing it again. The latest revelation is that they have decided to exempt themselves from a Government law brought in about three months ago. The law prevents employees who earn more than $200,000 from taking personal grievance cases against their bosses if they are fired. In other words, there will be no golden handshake if you've been sacked while earning that kind of money. But guess what? Wellington City Council bosses decided they weren't going to follow that law and exempted 42 of their staff from it. That's quite unbelievable, because the law is intended to make it easier for employers to remove incompetent managers who have been doing very little for years on end. And Wellington City Council knows it has a problem. A recent report suggests they may have a couple of hundred staff they need to get rid of. They have one of the highest staffing levels in the country when compared with other councils. As I say, they didn't tell elected councillors they made this decision. However, a councillor found out, started asking questions and it turns out it was true. Technically, the council can argue it didn't have to inform elected councillors -this is an employment decision they can make themselves. But even the mayor, Andrew Little, has said this should have gone to the council for signoff. It's not a good look. And it's becoming a bit of a running theme, hasn't it? Not just in Wellington but around the country: unelected staff making decisions in secret that ratepayers probably wouldn't be happy about if they knew. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So I was in Christchurch giving a speech to part of Local Government New Zealand - the South Island arm - so the room was full of mayors and councillors from across the South Island. One of the topics up for discussion was what councils around the country need to do, or could do, to win back public approval. I have to be honest: I left that room - and you know my views on councils - feeling just a little bit sorry for the councillors and mayors I met. The ones I spoke to seemed to be honestly trying. They admitted they've got more to do and that there are stupid costs they need to cut as well. But what they told me is that they're up against it. They're dealing with things they can't change: national laws like the RMA that tie their hands, and unelected staff who just go ahead and do their own thing. And sure enough, there's a story that illustrates at least some of that perfectly. Wellington City Council staff have spent $130,000 on new art for their flash new building - a building where they've hogged the top floors and shoved the mayor downstairs, where he's staring at a wall. Now, the thing is, they don't need art. They have no money and they're going hard on Wellington ratepayers. They do not need to be spending on art. They've already got an extensive collection they could draw from, which includes Colin McCahon, Toss Woollaston, Ralph Hotere, Dick Frizzell - Pablo Picasso, for goodness' sake.Judging by the criticism from elected councillors, it seems those councillors didn't even know the unelected staff were splashing out on fancy art. That's what these people are up against: bureaucrats who treat ratepayers like a bottomless ATM. That is a major problem. Now, I'm not making excuses for elected councillors or mayors - they have their own part to play in big spending. But some of them are genuinely trying. They're just up against decades of ingrained largesse like this. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join Wallace for New Zealand's most explosive 30 minutes of politics. He is joined by panellists Jonathan Milne, Holly Bennett, and Tracey Martin. First, they unpack a frosty few days between Government Ministers and TVNZ, as allegations of the conduct of Political Editor Maiki Sherman capture attention. Then, they look at the Labour Party's policy plan, or lack thereof, in the countdown to the election, and Winston Peters' defence of rail in the face of fuel-saving measures for heavy vehicles. Finally, should the Mayor get the best office at council headquarters? Wellington City Council executives think not, dishing themselves out the ocean views.

EDITORIAL: I just want to talk about something this morning that, honestly, feels like a perfect snapshot of where Wellington City Council is at right now. Office space. Not rates. Not pipes bursting. Not businesses struggling. Not the Moa Point mess. No, no — they're concerned about office space. Who's on what floor, who's got the view, and who's looking out at a car park. Now, I've got to ask — who actually cares? If you're a city councillor, if you're the mayor, aren't you there to do a job? Getting paid for that job by us. Aren't you there to serve the city, make decisions, fix problems, and represent the people of Wellington? Since when did the quality of your harbour view become part of your job description? Because I've worked a long time, and I've never once walked into a workplace and thought, “Gee, I hope I've got the penthouse today.” You go to work to work. If you want a view get one at home. And here we've got reports of councillors grumbling, talking of a boycott of a blessing ceremony, and frustration that council executives are sitting upstairs with the nice outlook while elected officials are on level one. Level one! It's convenient. One flight of stairs and you're there. You're accessible. You're close to the public. You're not hiding away at the top of a tower somewhere, disconnected from the people you're meant to represent. Are you supposed to look down and look down at your people? And if the mayor's looking out at a car park — frankly I don't give a damn. You should be out in the city – or if you're at your office you should be looking at your computer, your emails, your meetings, your city's problems. That's the job. To me, this is a mountain out of a molehill. But worse than that, it's symbolic. It tells you something about priorities of our council. Because while all this noise is going on about who sits where, Wellington still has massive issues that actually matter. And I'll give credit where it's due — some councillors have said exactly that. Turn up, do the job, don't worry about the furniture. Do you care where your office is when you go to work? And should we expect more focus — and be a little bit more humble — from the people running our city? Because right now, this just feels like a small, small deal, when we have bigger issues. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

OPINION: This is the moments where the penny really drops. Because for years, we've talked about infrastructure, we've talked about pipes, we've talked about underinvestment — but now it's no longer theory. It's turning up in your email or letterbox. In a matter of months — July 1 — Wellington households will start receiving a separate water bill. Not buried in your rates anymore, not hidden in the background. Front and centre and the numbers are eye watering. Right now, the average household is effectively paying about $2100 a year for water through rates. Under the new model, that becomes a standalone charge of roughly $2410 a year — about $200 a month, $50 a week and that's the starting point. But here's the reality check — and this is the bit people need to really hear. That number is projected to rise significantly. The modelling shows annual increases of between 8.9% and 14.4% through to 2035. If you compound that — and let's just be clear how that works — you're stacking increases on top of increases every single year — that $2100 becomes around $6831 a year within a decade. That's $566 a month, over $130 a week. Now put that on top of everything else. Rates are still going up. Wellington City Council is already signalling another 7.4% increase. Even with a projected reduction when water is split out — roughly 29% off the rates bill initially — once the increases are added back in, the average homeowner ends up worse off by about $1000 a year overall, $20 a week. So let's be very clear about this: you are not saving money. You are paying more for the same house, in the same city. And this is where my concern sits. Because I was talking to a very successful property developer yesterday — someone who knows the numbers inside out — and his words were simple: it's becoming untenable to live and do business in Wellington. And now you can see why. You've got rising rates. You've now got a separate water bill that could hit $6,000–$7,000 a year within a decade. You've got a shrinking population - an estimated increase of 800 over ten years - to spread those costs across. And at the same time, we're being told this is all because of decades of underinvestment in infrastructure — which, frankly, just pushes the cost straight onto today's ratepayers. Yes, of course we need to fix the pipes. No one's arguing that. But the system? The way this is being delivered? The compounding cost? That's where people are starting to say — hang on — this is becoming unaffordable. At what point does the cost of living in Wellington simply become too much? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington City Council's revenue and financial working group has released their report with 50 suggestions to cut council spending and rates rises. Chair of the group and deputy mayor Ben McNulty joins Nick to discuss the findings of the report. The report will head to public consultation, after the council meeting on Thursday. The report aims to save about $8 -10 million, including cutting the council's climate budget by $1.65 million. McNulty shares how the decisions were made, the limits and the future of the report. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington's Mayor is considering taking the city's bus lanes back to the drawing board. People driving in bus lanes are Wellington City Council's biggest money grabber, raking in around $6 million in fines. A new bus lane on Cambridge Terrace caught tens of thousands of people exceeding the 50 metre maximum, worth a penalty fee of $150. Andrew Little told Mike Hosking he doesn't want bus lane cameras to be seen as a source of revenue for the council. He says there's a genuine question on whether they need to be designated bus lanes for 12 hours a day seven days a week. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington City Council wants local authorities to have more power to curb heritage listings when it comes to planning law reforms. The council's submission asked for powers to strip buildings' heritage listings to avoid paying compensation and to make granting heritage listings to be by consent only. Wellington deputy mayor Ben McNulty says there's been many cases that inspired this move, including when the Gordon Wilson flats had to be pulled out through legislation. "We've got things like private homes that have the same heritage significance as Parliament House - that statistically zero percent of New Zealand will ever visit, cost double the insurance to maintain and you've got to get a resource consent if you want to re-roof or re-glaze." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Kiwiblog writer and Curia pollster David Farrar and former Labour MP Phil Goff joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! Wellington City Council wants local authorities to have more power to curb heritage listings. Do we think this is a good idea? Chris Bishop today confirmed the Government is revising the city's housing capacity number in its new plan and focusing more on building in the city and by transport hubs. Why do we think the Government had to back down? Winston Peters copped some backlash over some comments that Labour and the Greens have dubbed 'racist'. Do we think this backlash is fair? Why do we think the Government hit pause on introducing four-year terms? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington's mayor says questions can come later on who'll pay to fix the failed Moa Point wastewater treatment plant. The facility's failed catastrophically and wastewater's still flowing into the ocean - with no end in sight. Work's continuing at the site to lets teams assess what's gone wrong. Andrew Little says regional Wellington mayors have been quick to comment on whether they'll help pay. But he says those decisions haven't been made. "At the end of the day, Moa Point plant belongs to Wellington City Council - it's our responsibility. We need to get it fixed and up and running, we don't want to quibble about who's paying." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I've been saying every morning to Helen, God, would you look at what's happening in Wellington? Look at what has oh! Like one of those people, usually men, watching the television going, look what she's wearing, come here and have a look at this. Have a look at that. God. Oh, but I'm like that about the waste going into the ocean off Wellington. That's far more important than what a reporter may or may not be wearing. It is hard to comprehend the sheer amount of waste being pumped into Wellington's ocean right now. Who knew humans could produce so much? What does 70 million litres of waste per day look like? Helpfully, the Spinoff broke it down. Moa Point, the writer writes, is sharting out 28 Olympic pools of pure uncut human waste every 24 hours and will be doing so for months. If you want to have an Auckland analogy, the total tank capacity at Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium is 18 million litres. Moa Point is divesting itself of nearly four Kelly Tarltons worth of poos, wees, toilet paper every single day. Cool. You get the picture. Thank you Spinoff. It's an absolute disgrace. And yet really, Auckland can't talk. Every time it rains our beaches are closed. You know, where you hear the sound of rain on the roof, you used to think, oh, how lovely and relaxing. Now I think landslips and I think beach closures. Every year the joy of summer's blighted by beach closures. I mean, we do have help on the way. Helen and I have walked the poo tunnel and that was amazing to see and that's going to be open at the end of the year. But even then they said they're not going to be able to prevent all beach closures. They're not going to be able to say hand on heart it will never happen again because nature does what nature does and if there's an absolute torrent and a deluge they won't be able to cope even with that enormous pipe, but it will certainly mitigate a lot of the damage done. So there has been chronic underinvestment in our infrastructure around the country for decades, but nowhere is it more exemplified than Wellington. On the 27 th of May 2021 remember those times, Wellington City Council's long term plan committee faced a fork in the road. Officers presented councillors with water investment options, including one, water option three, that contained a $391 million wastewater renewals programme. It was designed to reduce sewage pollution, starting with the central city and South Coast catchments that are now making headlines. At the same meeting, officers recommended cycleways option three, a staged programme set out in the consultation document presented to councillors. This is from Peter Bassett in the blog Breaking Views. And as he writes, what happened next is the hinge moment of Wellington's current disgrace. An amendment was moved by then councillor, now MP, Tamatha Paul, seconded by Jill Day, now Labour Party president, to adopt cycleways option four, expanding the programme to 226 million over 10 years compared with 120 million under option three. That amendment passed. Accelerated wastewater renewal did not. Simon Woolf was one of the councillors who voted against cycleways over water. There's been no cognisance of reprioritising. It's just gone down an ideological line. The city's going to suffer for years and years on the back of this underinvestment. Which is putting it mildly. He's ropable. He and the other councillors who voted against it. They could see what was happening. They knew it was imperative and it wasn't one or the other, it was a matter of priority. You could say sure, let's do cycleways, but shall we sort out the wastewater first because that is that's verging on catastrophic. No. No, let's go with the cycleways and what's more, let's spend more money on the cycleways than was recommended and let's not do the wastewater. It'll be fine. Just hold on. It's not fine. It couldn't hold on. To be fair, the previous Labour government understood that the country's infrastructure for the most part is in crisis, hence Three Waters. But yet again they were let down by their own execution of a plan to revitalise New Zealand's waterways. They failed to get the public behind Three Waters. National has come up with its own plan. Three Waters has become Affordable Water Done Well and there seems to be a growing understanding that we just can't kick the can down the road. All councils around the country are going to have to bite the bullet. Some have done, only a few, some have done so. Are you willing to see a rise in rates to clean up our waterways? Do you understand the urgency? Does Wellington's infrastructure crisis underline the urgency and the need to undertake the water reforms? And if we have to pay more in our rates, so be it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Wellington City Councillor says he's frustrated to see yet another example of the capital's water infrastructure failing. Heavy rain flooded the city's wastewater treatment plant's lower floors, causing sewage to leak into Tarakena Bay, writing off equipment and forcing the plant to shut down. Untreated wastewater is currently flowing into the southern coast, with Wellington Water saying it could take days to fix. Wellington Eastern Ward Councillor Sam O'Brien told Ryan Bridge it's an ongoing issue, and this isn't an isolated thing. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Wellington City Council's made another embarrassing blunder on ratepayer bills. Mayor Andrew Little's told Newstalk ZB ratepayers have been overcharged by about 10 dollars each - for the Greater Wellington Regional Council levy. He says it'll be rectified in the next bill. Last month, it was revealed the council had undercharged ratepayers by almost 3.5 million dollars for its sludge levy. Construction costs soared in building the city's first sludge minimisation plant, meaning households needed to fork out between 3 dollars and 100 dollars each, with an average undercharge of 40 dollars per levy-payer. Speaking to Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, Little this morning defended the council's Chief Financial Officer Andrea Reeves, insisting she's still doing a great job. He says she recognises the problem and has independent people coming in and telling her what has led to the mistakes. Little says he's revealed this second blunder out of full transparency. "Part of [being mayor] it is about changing the culture of council, and getting those things ironed out," he says. "But also when things do go wrong, let's just step up and say it, and fix it, and trying to do that." Reeves previously apologised for the sludge levy error, saying to prevent this happening again, stronger internal controls and review steps had been put in place. The Greater Wellington levy funds regional services like biosecurity, flood protection and regional transport. The Wellington City Council is apologising for the second accounting error, but says it means ratepayers will pay less than previously thought. It says it's confident all rates assessments are now correct. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tom talks about opponents joining forces to oppose road changes and a new planned tunnel, a new world class music festival for the capital, Wellington City Council wins more votes on the water regional services and the 8 year old lobbying the council for speed bumps.

The Government has announced the details on its plan for rates caps - councils will be capped at 4%.They will not be able to raise their rates by more than 4%, and the plan will start being implemented in a couple of years' time, sort of mid 27, and then will be fully in place by mid 2029.There will be exemptions to the rate cap. The high growth councils will be exempt from the cap. Councils that experience a natural disaster, something like bad weather, a quake, whatever, they will be exempt. Councils that need to catch up on infrastructure underinvestment, which I thought would have been most councils, they will be exempt.They will have to apply. The exempt will not be automatic. They will have to apply for an exemption, but those are the grounds they can apply on, which I think sounds like potentially a lot of councils who will be able to get around the 4% cap.Now, on the politics of it, it is incredibly smart to announce this - it is incredibly popular. One poll found that about 75% of people want to see this happen, and I really want this to work.I really want this to force councils to sharpen their pencils and start cutting out the nice to haves like the disco toilets and the bus stops with the gardens spouting from the top. And I want them to be able to be going through their staff list and maybe discover like Wellington has in the last week, about 330 people who probably don't need to be paid for by the ratepayer.And this will definitely, I think, do that. It will force a bit of discipline.But what does worry me is that this isn't dealing with the actual problem that we've got in local government, which is that we have a bunch of numpties sitting around the council tables making bad financial decisions.After this, we will still have numpties sitting around the council table, and those numpties will still make bad financial decisions.And if there's one thing that we've learned from recent experience with Wellington City Council, it's that when numpties cut spending, They cut spending on important things like pipes and for some weird reason they keep on spending on the dumb stuff like disco toilets, and I worry that that will happen around the country and we will simply end up with another crisis like we're having at the moment of deferred maintenance.Having said that, It is obviously a much better situation if the numpties have less money to waste rather than more money to waste.So on balance, the rates cap is probably an improvement on the status quo, isn't it?Even if only for the certainty it gives the rest of us that our rates bill next year will not force us out of our homes.In that respect, this has got to be good news.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A report suggests Wellington City Council could save tens of millions of dollars through drastic job cuts, but councillors won't be drawn on whether hundreds of staff are facing layoffs. Mary Argue reports.

Wellington City Council has hit pause on its Golden Mile central city revamp after learning of another budget blowout. Wellington mayor Andrew Little spoke to Corin Dann.

Tom discusses how Wellington City Council lost money in carbon trading and more. 

From today, Wellington City Council will start to remove the temporary fencing around the waterfront. The fencing was put up in 2023, after a death in the harbour.. that was the seventh drowning since 2006. A coroner's report in March called for urgent action in high risk areas of the waterfront .. but in August, Wellington council voted against a proposal to put up permanent fences. For more on this Wellington Mayor Andrew Little speaks to Jesse.

Wellington City Council "low mow" trial is now permanent, after less frequent trimming was found to have huge benefits. Reporter Lauren Crimp reports.

As an economically depressed Wellington faces a myriad of challenges — from ageing infrastructure, rising rates, debates about heritage, and a seemingly omnipresent earthquake risk — who is best placed to lead the city? . Q+A, with Verian Public, polled Wellington voters in early September about who they want their next mayor to be. In the face of questions about Wellington City Council's governance capabilities, one candidate is outpolling the rest by a significant margin. . Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made with the support of NZ on Air.

A defence of Wellington's City to Sea Bridge as it faces demolition. Work to demolish the earthquake prone bridge could start this week after the High Court tossed out a judicial review to save it. Wellington City Councillor Nicola Young says even if people think it's ugly, it does serve an important purpose. "It's a safety aspect - it's a lovely way to cross over to the waterfront rather than going over a pedestrian crossing." Nicola Young's concerned the replacement bridge will take too long to put in place. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rare thing to be able to say- but Wellington City Council has just made a sensible decision and voted against erecting a fence along the entire length of Kumutoto and Queen's Wharf. Now, if you know the part of Wellington that I'm talking about here, it's the area seaside of the TSB Bank Arena and Fergs and Shed 5 and Foxglove and so on. That whole area at the moment has beautiful concrete walkways that have been laid, lovely seating and lighting and so on. And then there's a little barrier either side. If there's sea on the other side, there's a little barrier that comes up to a concrete barrier, maybe mid-shin for you. Now, council officials planned to erect a fence instead - a full-length fence either side of every walkway, up to about 1.2 meters or so, lining almost the entire walkway, 3.5 km of it, at the cost of maybe as much as $30 million. And they wanted the council - probably because they realized how this is going to go down with people - to rush through voting on it without talking to the public about it first. For once, Wellington City Council has actually done the right thing and pumped the brakes here. I think, to be fair to the officials, that this is coming from a good place and that this is the recommendation in a coroner's report. A coroner has had a look at somebody who's fallen into the water, died in the drink, and said: you should put a fence up. Because there have been a few examples lately, especially young men who've got on the raz and then fallen into the water, and that has been the end of them. But - this is gonna sound harsh - I don't think that you fence off an entire walkway because some young people sometimes have a drink and then fall in. I don't want, just as much as you - I don't want people to die needlessly in accidents. But there is a balance to be struck here between personal responsibility and safety measures that we put up to stop stuff happening. I think you go for an intermediate thing here. You stick up some lights, you make sure people can see where they're going in the dark, but you do not fence off the entire thing because that is overkill. It is not normal for us to have fences between ourselves and the sea. Take Auckland, where I live at the moment. Go for a walk under Auckland's Harbour Bridge, there are huge stretches exactly like this. No fence whatsoever. You're just walking there and there's the sea. It's a fall down, you just have to look after yourself and be careful. Walk on piers anywhere in this country, they often do not have fences. You've just got to watch where you're going. If you chuck up a fence, you stop people doing what they're supposed to do near the sea, which is sitting there looking at it, enjoying nature, or fishing off the walkway into the sea. Think about what the Wellington officials were trying to do here - they were literally fencing off the sea. When you fence off the sea, do you not think that you are going just a little bit too far? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington City Council is being called on to review its rating system over fears increased rates are driving businesses out of the capital. Newly released figures show Wellington's average commercial rates bill is $47,881. That compares to $20,716 in Auckland, $18,059 in Christchurch, $24,768 in Hamilton, and $25,670 in Tauranga. Director of The Wellington Company, Ian Cassels, says there's a lot of overspending going on - with 'eye-watering' levies impacting businesses. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Panel, Wallace Chapman is joined by panellists Aimie Hines and Simon Wilson. They discuss reactions to Budget 2025, Wellington City Council's decision to save both Begonia House and Khandallah Pool from demolition, and dig into the changes around jobseeker elegibility.

A major Wellington City Council meeting partially born from its failed airport share sale will be held on Thursday deciding the fate of beloved community assets and water reform in the capital. Nick James reports.

Tonight on The Panel, Wallace Chapman is joined by panellists Steve McCabe and Jenni Giblin. They discuss a new public artwork garnering harsdh reactions from locals and the bus lane camera raking in cash for the Wellington City Council.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 30 April 2025, KiwiRail's announced the Aratere will be retired this year, leaving us with just two Interislander ferries for the next four years. Education Minister Erica Stanford explains why she's going to introduce financial literacy courses to schools. Heather explains why she's impressed with Nicola Willis' budget announcement - but thinks we need to cut whole ministries to free up more money. Plus, the Huddle debates Wellington City Council voting in favour of allowing 16-year olds to vote in local body elections. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Kiwiblog writer and Curia pollster David Farrar and Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! Wellington City Council has voted in favour of supporting lowering the voting age to 16 in local body elections. This is never going to go anywhere - is it? The Government's latest curriculum update involves teaching students about financial literacy. Do we think schools should be teaching this - or should it be taught at home? What do we make of Nicola's almost zero-budget one day on? Do we agree with Nicola's plan - or should she be going further? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The battle to save a central Wellington footbridge is heading to the high court. Spokesperson for Save the City-to-Sea bridge Stuart Niven spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

I sort of hinted at this the other day when the monitor for the Wellington City Council put out his second report. My question was, given there was leaking and dysfunction and the punter was at their wits end, what now for Wellington? Do we just get more reports? Well, lo and behold, another Wellington operation has their own monitor in the form of the Commerce Commission who have been brought in to oversee the mess at Wellington Water. The Minister has not seen any improvement, there's been no real change and unless stuff happens, there are rate rises galore for no real gain. So once again we can ask, what do the Commerce Commission do? Do they write reports too? If those reports tell us the place is still a shambles, how many reports does it take for someone, somewhere, to actually fire up a bit of action? I can also add, and this is an overarching observation, just how dysfunctional does Wellington need to get before it literally implodes on itself? The electorate changes last week were all in Wellington. Why? Because people have left and, to be frank, who can blame them? Then we come to Tamatha Paul, who made what most observers seemed to suggest was one of the most extraordinary comments about police anyone had ever heard. Her good friends in Labour called them stupid. The Prime Minister called her insane. Yet she holds an electorate. The good people of Wellington central, and by no small margin I might add, looked at her credentials and decided they liked her enough to vote for her. So Wellington, what's the story? What level of madness and dysfunction are you willing to tolerate before change comes? Is change ever coming? Do you actually want change? Do you mind paying a lot more than you need to for stuff that doesn't work? Is a crummy council, a lot of broken pipes and a mad MP OK, as long as your cycleways are fun to ride on? Oh, did I mention the trains? You can't beat Wellington on a good day. When, Wellington, was your last good day and why are you putting up with it? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellingtonians have weighed in on whether the city council should spend millions of dollars installing permanent fencing along the capital's waterfront. A coroner says the council must act, following the death of 30-year-old Sandy Calkin who accidentally drowned after falling off Queens Wharf in 2021. Lauren Crimp reports.

A coroner is urging Wellington City Council to spend the millions of dollars required to install permanent balustrades along the waterfront, following the accidental drowning of 30-year-old Sandy Calkin in 2021. Reporter Lauren Crimp spoke to Corin Dann.

Wellington Water's boss says local councils have every right to be angry at them. Tory Whanau yesterday described her council's relationship with the organisation as “tense” at a special meeting, following revelations last week it wasn't getting value for ratepayers' money. Wellington Water CEO Pat Dougherty told Mike Hosking he and his staff are doing everything they can to find the issues and fix them. He says there's been a culture of putting too much trust in their contractors, and he wants a more tense and accountable relationship. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington City Council has revealed the final design for the Golden Mile upgrade on Courtenay Place, but a contractor for most of the project has not yet been hired. Nick James reports.

Wellington City Council will dig up a thousand cubic metres of asbestos, arsenic, lead and other materials at a scenic South Coast beach. Nick James reports.

This interview incorrectly states that Wellington City Council voted to support the name change. Hutt City Council voted to support the name change. Petone will stay Petone, rather than Pito-One, after Minister Chris Penk declined the name change. Palmerston North Maori Reserve Trust chair Liz Mellish spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Begonia House supporters worry the Wellington City Council isn't considering viable alternatives and that it could be the next Wellington landmark set for demolition.

Georgina discusses the Wellington City Council's fiasco last week, with the Government threatening to intervene over the decision not to sell airport shares.