Wellington City Council Draft Long-term Plan 2018-2028

Introduction

For the purposes of this submission, it is important to note that Wellington region businesses contribute significantly to the city and region’s rate-take. Businesses pay 46 per cent of the total rates collected by Wellington City Council while taking up only 21 per cent of the total rateable property. Regionally, businesses pay around one-third of the rates collected by Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC). Further, Wellington businesses pay the highest proportion of rates of any town, city, or region in New Zealand, nearly 50 per cent higher than Auckland and nearly 100 per cent more than Hamilton. Therefore as the largest contributor to Wellington City's and the Wellington region’s rate-take, and paying the highest proportion in the country, businesses have a real stake in what happens to rate money.

We would like to commend Wellington City Council and its officers for the way in which they have undertaken consultation on the plan. The plan plays a critical part to support the growth and performance of both the city and regional economy. We commend the council on the consultation undertaken, particularly the use of online channels to promote engagement. We appreciate effort involved from Council officers in preparing the documents. We also appreciate that, within the specific provisions for the implementation of this plan and policies, the devil is truly in the detail.

The Chamber would also like to acknowledge the work that has taken place to date that dovetails into the plan itself, particularly around improving the city’s readiness and resilience following the Kaikōura quake. The Chamber is strongly supportive of the future planning and investment contained within this plan.

This submission will address a number of the issues covered in the Consultation Document, generally as per the order outlined there. Not surprisingly, the Consultation Document covers the exact same five areas referred to at the pre-consultation stage: Resilience an environment, Housing, Transport, Sustainable growth, and Arts and culture...

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