Wellington City Council confirms long-term plan, mayor tells government to butt out

Wellington City Council has locked in a new long-term plan after many hours of debate, with rates rises set to top 10 percent, and the mayor issuing a pointed reminder to central government to "stay in their lane".

A previous meeting in late November saw more than 20 amendments made by councillors over the course of six hours.

The meeting went for five hours, and more amendments were made before the plan was given the okay to send out for public consultation.

Further changes could still happen before the plan takes effect in July 2025, after councillors have had the chance to consider public feedback.

Council officers were directed to report back in February on how to get rates rises below 12.8 percent, as was promised earlier in the year.

The current draft plan had a projected rates increase for 2025/26 of 15.9 percent, but officers explained on Tuesday there was more work to do, and they expected to find ways to bring that down before the plan went out for consultation.

But an attempt by councillor Diane Calvert to go further - requesting councillors bring back advice on how to keep rates rises even lower, below 10 percent - did not get the support it needed to go ahead, failing 12 votes to six.

Councillor Rebecca Matthews called it "pure fantasy", and others called into question how it would be possible while still carrying out core council services.

The council agreed to sell ground leases to create a disaster resilience fund, and to pare down and improve access to its art collection.

Staff would also bring back advice in February on options for saving the Begonia House.

Calvert said having visited, she now understood how important the building was to the running of the gardens, and said it was too much to ask for Wellingtonians to lose two significant pieces of infrastructure - this on top of the City to Sea Bridge.

Mayor Tory Whanau wrapped up the debate with a reminder to central government - which in the past 24 hours had removed four wellbeing provisions from the Local Government Act - saying councils were using them to justify spending on nice-to-haves.

"We are a local council, making decisions for our local people," Whanau said. "So with all due respect to the government, it's not their decision.

"Just a reminder to the government to stay in their lane."

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