Notes from the November Meeting

November 27, 2025Consultation, Local Events, Meetings, NewsR.C.

Merio Marsters Association President, welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Sam Somers (Treasurer) summarised the accounts. The Association has applied for an annual Council grant of $1000, and Stone Soup Community Gardens grant of $300 has been approved for the Carrara Park garden beds..

Projects:

Carrara Park – WCC announcement to have toilets open 26 June 2026. You can follow progress here Carrara Park public toilet – Projects – Wellington City Council

A community event to celebrate Carrara Park is open for suggestions and discussion.

Merio reported on the recent meeting with WCC Connected & Newtown Safety Plan team: Billy Murray, Joel Berryman and Delly Ranginui – previously reported in the November Newsletter, more details in the full minutes.

The safety team has been invited to our February meeting to provide us with updates and changes to safety projects/plans in Newtown.

Guest Speaker: Julie Anne Genter, our MP for Rongotai

The Electorate office has been assisting people with various functions. Many support services have been made more difficult to engage in.
Newtown Heart, our association, and Salvation Army have been working with Council to do cleanup operations.
The latest Mt Victoria tunnel proposal has been expanded today. It was noted that there is no funding for this project yet. It was noted that this project will directly affect neighbouring suburbs, but Newtown will affect indirectly. This media release from Waka Kotahi lists ‘information’ days: https://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=175749. Note that details are sparse and there are four weeks to make submissions.

Councillor Updates:

Cr Nureddin Abdurahman thanked the Association and Salvation Army for organising candidate meetings and generally helping what was a very positive campaign.

He spoke briefly about Council activities, including listing various Council committees, which are in this article https://wellington.govt.nz/news-and-events/news-and-information/our-wellington/2025/10/deputy-mayor-announced

Other business:

Neighbours of the burned out house at 285 Mansfield Street talked about their concerns.

Ban on Fireworks. Following from last month’s meeting, we have written to the Council asking that previous discussions be reviewed. There was some discussion around the issue.

Andrew Wison (Salvation Army) updated the meeting on social issues around the City.

An awareness and shared information drawn to new changes for 70+ year olds renewing their driving licences, for example: to be registered and seen by GP, cognitive, eye tests, etc

Merio encouraged attendees to reach out to isolated vulnerable members in our community, so external support can be provided during the holidays period. To everyone in attendance, Safe holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The formal meeting was followed by supper and an enjoyable social time.

See the full Minutes here.

Notes of the Newtown Residents’ Association October 2025 Meeting

November 1, 2025Meetings, NewsR.C.

20 October 2025 7.30pm, St Thomas’s Church Community Lounge, 200 Riddiford St.

This meeting began with the second part of the 2025 AGM, then continued with the October monthly meeting.

Merio Marsters opened the meeting and noted that it was her first full meeting as President.

Resumed Annual General Meeting

The 2025 AGM on September 15th received the President’s Report and elected the Officers of the Association, then was adjourned until this October meeting.

Treasurer Sam Somers presented the Income and Expenditure and the Statement of Financial Position.

It was noted that previous prudent spending by the Association has resulted in us having a term deposit which provides a significant addition to our income by way of interest.

Sam then moved a series of motions about the operation of the Newtown Residents’ Association bank accounts – adding new signatories and removing others. See the full minutes for the details of these – link below.

Review of Constitution changes, as required by the Incorporated Societies Act 2022.

The proposed new constitution was circulated in the Newsletter on 17 Oct 2025.

It was noted that our new constitution expects us to present the minutes of our monthly meetings at the following meeting. We haven’t been doing this, and it was agreed that we should and we will!
It was agreed that we will retain the suggested wording to give executive members control over admitting members.
There was discussion about the number of executive members, in particular about the pros and cons of having a large executive (our current execuitive is potentially up to 16 members). However these Executive positions have been in our current constitution for a long time and were the basis of our elections at the earlier part of this AGM so it was agreed to continue it for now. There can be further discussion and possble ammendments in the future.
There were some other small changes to wording discussed.
After discussion about whether to allow proxy votes Rhona Carson /Steve Cosgrove moved -The constitution will not allow proxy votes. Carried

Keith Powell /Steve Cosgrove moved – That this meeting thanks Stephen Pritchard and others who have worked on the constitution. Carried by acclamation.

Rhona Carson /Adam Awad moved -That this constitution, with the wording changes as discussed, should be processed as required. Carried

The Adjourned AGM was concluded at this point and we moved on to the October Meeting business.

A potential Fireworks Ban. There was discussion about Fireworks and their damaging effects.
Previous Councillors, Fleur Fitzsimons and Paul Eagle, were going to promote a local ban on fireworks, but it didn’t get anywhere then.
The meeting agreed that we will approach our current Councillors, Laurie Foon and Nureddin Abdurahman, to reopen the topic..

De-escalation Training – Andrew Wilson reported the next Salvation Army training in de-escalation would be on Tuesday 28th of October from 6pm to 9pm.

See the full minutes here.

Wellington Heritage Festival starts October 18th

October 17, 2025Local Events, NewsR.C.

This year the Wellington Heritage Festival is on from October 18th till November 9th, with more than 160 events all over the Wellington region.

There are several events in and about Newtown – find them by going to https://wellingtonheritagefestival.co.nz/events/ and putting Newtown in the search bar – they are all free except the Street Art Bicycle Tour, but several require booking. Two events, the “Old town Newtown” walking tours guided by Claire Nolan, and Heritage tours of Government House and Grounds, are already fully booked.
These are the remaining ones –

Sunday 19 October Patrick Morgan is leading a ‘Street Art Bicycle Tour’ from Te Aro to Newtown.
Tuesday 21 October at University of Otago, Wellington Hospital, 23A Mein St, Newtown there is an event to celebrate 150 years of medical training in Aotearoa.
Wednesday 22 October you can visit the ANZ Bank Archives at Level 1 2aGreen St.
Thursday 23 October there is ‘History and Hoops’ with Claire Nolan and Matthew Spooner at Newtown Croquet Club
Thursday 30 October 7pm Paul Forrest is talking about ‘The History of Newtown’s Green Belt’ at Newtown Community Centre.
Saturday 1 November Paul Forrest is leading ‘The History of Newtown’s Green Belt’ Walking Tour, meeting at the new Owen St Park – 177 Owen St.

In addition our Association is putting on 2 photo exhibitions, one is Newtown Images at SubCulture, the refurbished Electricity Substation, which will be visible for the duration of the Festival (Claire Nolan will have a display in one of the windows and we will use the other one). The other is Newtown in Photographs and Story at the Artists. 24.7 Gallery at 247 Riddiford St. The exhibition opens Saturday 18th October, then will be open every day except the Wednesdays and Thursdays until the Festival closes on Sunday 9th November.

Adjourned AGM – October 20th

October 17, 2025Meetings, NewsR.C.

Monday October 20th 2025, 7.30-9.00 pm, at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St.

The 2025 AGM on September 15th received the President’s Report and elected the Officers of the Association, then was adjourned until the October meeting to complete the following items:

Agenda –
Treasurer’s Report and presentation of accounts for 2024-25

Review of Constitution changes, as required by the Incorporated Societies Act 2022.

See here for a copy of the current Rules of the Association, and the

Draft constitution – Newtown Residents’ Association v2.1

Notes of the September Meeting

September 20, 2025Meetings, NewsR.C.

This report includes a later update about parking plans.

This meeting, held on 15th September 2025, was the Association’s AGM, and Rhona Carson’s last as the Association President

President’s Report: Rhona commented that her report is very long, with a month by month record of events and activities. People are invited to read it online.

She reflected on some of the 2024-2025 Newtown highlights, including

The Owen St Park has been redeveloped and is now open for public use
Development of the Newtown Consortium – thanks to the Newtown Business Group.
Parking plans that have been implemented
Carrara Park toilets have been agreed
Newtown’s recognition at the Wellington Awards Evening
Thanks to the wide range of people who have worked to support Newtown community, which together builds a collective of people supporting the suburb.

The report was accepted with acclamation, with many thanks to Rhona for her work during 10 years as the Asociation Prestdent.

Treasurers Report Treasurer Sam Somers has been busy running ‘it’s in the Ballot’ and hasn’t been able to complete the Treasurers Report, so this will be presented next month.

The Officers and Executive Committee of the Association for 2025-2026: (including people co-opted after the meeting)

President: Merio Marsters
Vice Presidents: No nominations
Immediate Past President: Rhona Carson ex officio
Secretary: Rhona Carson
Treasurer: Sam Somers
Executive Committee: Carol Comber, Steve Cosgrove, Steve Dunn, Martin Hanley, Marion Leighton, Jane Patterson, Stephen Pritchard, Hilary Watson, Andrew Wilson

Constitutional changes.

Rhona noted that the new draft constitution hadn’t yet been circulated to members,, so this item should be discussed and voted on at an adjourned AGM, 20th October.

It was agreed that the Annual General Meeting would be adjourned until 20 October to complete the AGM agenda.

General monthly meeting business followed.

About the new Owen St Park-

Mana Whenua are reconsidering their suggestions for a gifted name. The official opening will be delayed until a name for the park is decided.
A number of possible future events and activities for the Park were suggested

What is happening on our streets?

Andrew Wilson (Salvation Army Captain) reported that he has noticed a reduction in the number of ‘street people’. Some have moved to other places. Some who are housed are now hosting others, which can be problematic. People appear to have moved to other areas and might return. There are some people who have stayed, and new people are arriving.

Merio noted that Brian at the Rainbow Books shop has opened his shop and is giving away books. The community will support him. (https://jillscene.com/2016/01/08/the-coolest-little-bookshop-in-the-coolest-suburb-in-the-coolest-little-capital-in-the-world/)

Emergency Response. Andrew introduced the Emergency Response role of the Salvation Army in Newtown – a new role that he will be taking up shortly. He wants to build a group of people who know best how to use local resources and how best to respond. He will put together a plan and bring us and the community into this mahi.

Parking Plans. There was general consensus that there are now more parking spaces for residents most of the time. Tom Law wondered when parking changes (and charges) will be rolled out across the rest of the city.

Steve Cosgrove agreed to contact Council to ask anout this, and the next day got this response from WCC Officer Paul Barker:

“We have rolled out the parking scheme used in Newtown to the suburb of Wadestown.

We are currently in the process of preparing a business case to change the existing schemes around the fringe of the central area to that used in Newtown, we expect to present this to committee early in 2026 and then consult widely followed by detailed consultation later in 2026 with the first schemes if approved coming into play later in 2026.”

See the full minutes here -AGM Minutes NRA September 2025

Notice for the 2025 Annual General Meeting

September 14, 2025Meetings, NewsR.C.

Monday September 15th 2025, 7.30-9.00 pm, at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St.

Agenda:

Apologies
Minutes of the NRA AGM 2024 to be approved (please review – the minutes will be taken as read at the meeting)
Matters arising from the minutes

The Presidents Report

Treasurer’s Report and presentation of accounts for 2024-25

Election of Officers:

President
Up to three Vice-Presidents
Secretary
Treasurer
Up to nine (9) committee members

Review of Constitution changes, as required by the Incorporated Societies Act 2022.
See here for a copy of the current Rules of the Association

Any other business.

Progress on Newtown Concerns

August 29, 2025NewsR.C.

There has been a lot of focus on Newtown in recent months, with many concerns about safety on our streets, both for local residents and businesses and for the vulnerable people who have found their way here. This was the topic of another recent post.

On 22 May 2025 WCC Councillors passed a resolution asking Council Officers to prepare “a report on the current safety and wellbeing situation in Newtown, including maintenance and lighting, as part of the next City Safety Plan briefing and recommend what further actions could be taken to improve these issues”. These documents were released last week, and reported on by RNZ this week.

There are links to these documents below, if you want a more in-depth look –
The Newtown Safety Advice and Action Plan, which sets out a tailored, short-term response that reflects the unique context of Newtown and the need for coordinated action across agencies and community partners.
and The August 2025 CPTED Report, which provides the evidence base for environmental improvements and outlines the priority sites identified by the Newtown community.

Advice on Addressing Safety Concerns in Newtown

Newtown CPTED 2025

Notes of the August Meeting

August 22, 2025Local Events, Meetings, NewsR.C.

The meeting was on 18th August 2025, 7.30pm at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St.

These were some of the topics discussed –

Paul Fletcher, Priest in Charge at St Toms, introduced himself. He and his wife live in Mansfield St.
He has been here six months and is working out local priorities. His answer to a question about his mission was “Working with youth and others”.
St Tom’s Services are in the Newtown School Hall because the Church here is too small. They are repurposing the use of this space for appropriate groups. This building might be replaced with community housing in the future.

Madeleine Taylor from Tiriti Action Group (TAG) talked about the work TAG is doing to raise awareness about the upcoming referendum on Māori Wards this local body election. She was asked about a good way to deal with dissenters, and suggested some engagement tactics and recommended courses at https://www.tauiwitautoko.com/

Further discussion about Newtown concerns and street safety.

Cpt. Andrew Wilson from the Salvation Army talked about developing a community de-escalation workshop, as previously discussed at the May meeting. There will be a pilot session on the 3rd of September.

Councillor Nureddin Abdurahman and Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon outlined the CBD issues, particularly the City Safety Plan, and why some people are moving from the CBD to Newtown. There is a Council paper coming soon on safety in Newtown.

Paul Fletcher added that there are a lot of things going on in Newtown and people are working to support those who need help.

There was general agreement that this problem is complicated. People on Newtown streets include known drug dealers, and there are beggars who live elsewhere and come to Newtown because we are a compassionate community.

On 18 July there was a fire, suspected arson, at 285 Mansfield Street. This was very alarming to neighbours. The house was occupied by squatters and is likely to be linked to the other problems. We are advised that Council officers are in contact with the owners.

It was raised that people need far more than housing. Andrew said that the Government has indicated that there will be no more money available for mental health and addiction work. The various agencies will continue to work on community-based solutions.

Updating the Newtown Residents’ Association Constitution

Stephen Pritchard has been working on updating our constitution as required by changes to the Incorporated Society Requirements. He outlined the process and undertook to get a draft circulated soon, in preparation for the AGM on September 15th.

See the full minutes here

Concerns about Newtown

August 15, 2025Consultation, NewsR.C.

There is a lot to celebrate about Newtown and the great things that happen here, but at the same time there has been a lot of recent publicity about worries about safety on the streets, public drug use, and so on. Here is one of several Radio New Zealand articles about the subject. The local politicians and the community agencies in the area have been discussing the issues and responses to them, and the Community Police are also working on it. WCC and the Police ask that any issues of concern are reported, either to 111 for acute risks or 105 less acute, or to the WCC Fix It app or online form.

DM Laurie Foon reports that as well as calling on the government, working more tightly with local agencies and housing providers, the city council will be coming up with a plan for what it can do for Newtown, which is expected in the next week.

In addition open letters have been written to Government Ministers.
Cr Nureddin Abdurahman has written an open letter to Housing Minister Tama Potaka seeking government help with the increase in homelessness in Newtown, which has been published on Wellington Scoop.
Cpt Andrew Wilson from Salvation Army has been coordinating signatures to a letter from the Newtown Community, which our Association President has signed with the approval of the Association Executive, and MP Julie Anne Genter has also written in support of this.

MP Julie Anne Genter’s Letter to Ministers Potaka and Bishop

The Newtown Community Letter

Notes of the Newtown Residents’ Association July meeting

August 1, 2025Meetings, NewsR.C.

This well attended meeting was at 7.30pm on 21^st July in the St Thomas’s Community Lounge, 200 Riddiford St.

The main topic of the evening was a discussion about Emergency Preparedness, with Manomita Das from the Joint Centre for Disaster Research (JCDR) and Vania Szymkowiak from Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office ( WREMO).

Manomita Das is a Research Officer At Massey University whose Doctoral Thesis is about mobilising citizens for reducing disaster risks. Research into the use of communication to encourage community members to come together as collectives to jointly address hazard risks took her around a number of places, mainly in the Te Waipounamu. See the full minutes for more details.

Vania Szymkowiak is the Kaitohutohu | Emergency Management Advisor, Community Resilience and Recovery, for Wellington Region Emergency Management Office.

She talked about the role of WREMO, which works with a very large number of organisations from Te Upoko o Te Ika a Māui. The kaupapa is about and focused on Community. More information here: https://www.wremo.nz/get-ready/community-ready/

See the full minutes for more details. Vania also shared these resource links after the meeting –

Information on workshops, and a Newsletter to sign up for – News and Events

Budget conscious tips: Preparedness on a budget – from there people can move back to the main Home ready menu with other personal preparedness tips Home Ready.

A resource tool for Neighbours from Neighbourhood Support Tips + Advice | Neighbourhood Support New Zealand – the page has lots of topics with advice as well as the plan Our neighbourhood plan.pdf .

The meeting concluded with brief discussion of Meet the Candidates Meetings, the new Park at 177 Owen St, and a notice about Te Toi Mahana Community Housing (which was City Housing) organising Football games for tamariki from age 8 to 13 on Monday afternoons in Carrara Park.

See the full minutes here – NRA Minutes July 2025

Notes from the Newtown Residents’ Meeting June 2025

June 22, 2025NewsMeetings, NewsR.C.

This meeting was at 7.30pm 16^th June at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St.

The advertised agenda for the meeting included an item about Emergency Management but the expected guest from WREMO didn’t come. This was due to a miscommunication and the topic has been rescheduled for the July meeting.

Rhona Carson confirmed arrangements for Meet the Candidates meetings: GWRC Monday 25 August, Wellington City Council Monday 1 September, Mayoral candidates Monday 8 September. Venue is the Salvation Army Hall, 4 Normanby St – they are co-hosting.

Dan Millward from Regent Street introduced himself. He is standing for Pukehīnau/Lambton Ward as part of the Independent Together Group. He reported there would be a meet the IT candidates at the Rintoul St Community Centre 3:30 – 5pm on Sunday 22nd June – one of a series of meetings the IT group are holding throughout Wellington.

Sam Somers outlined the kaupapa of ‘It’s In The Ballot’. Meet the Candidates meetings are live streamed – although audiences can also attend in person. See https://itsintheballot.nz/.

See the full minutes for more details of times and places for meetings.

We had hoped our local Community Constables Ash Sutherland and Des Foo would be at the meeting, but unfortunately they were unable to attend due to sickness. Constable Ash Sutherland sent an update about recent activities, including executing a search warrant and arresting two people for supplying synthetic cannabis. She reminded residents to log worrying issues with Council and to call Police for any disorderly behaviour. Ash is going on Maternity Leave 27 June, but we hope to see her colleague Des Foo at future meetings.

‘Eyes-On’ and related community safety events have continued over the last month or so. There has been a walk-around with Council Officers to look at the streetlights – there are still a lot not working.

Eyes-On is a programme for people in frontline positions dealing with the public. People who had attended a recent workshop decsribed strategies for avoiding and de-escalating potential issues.

Andrew Wilson from the Salvation Army said they also run de-escalation workshops on keeping ourselves safe. These workshops are aimed at community members, rather than businesses. Many people at the meeting would be interested in attaending. With regard to advocacy, the Salvation Army is co-ordinating getting messages to relevant ministers, especially about the need for more and better services and housing.

There was discussion about the day-to-day work of the Salvation Army in Newtown. Cups of tea are available at the Salvation Army daily from about 9am – and usually donated food. New World Newtown are good supporters.

Carol Comber from Mt Cook Mobilised reported that at a recent meeting there was a lot of concern about bus stops being removed along the Golden Mile – particularly the ones by the St James and Reading complex. It is suggested that those who have concerns should email daran.ponter@gw.govt.nz.

There was an extensive discussion about the parking situation at Roy Street. DM Laurie Foon is going to follow this up with WCC Officer Paul Barker.

Rhona Carson advised that there will be a Newtown historic photo exhibition for the Wellington Heritage Festival, 18th October – 9th November, at Gallery 24/7 – 247 Riddiford St.

The park at 177 Owen Street is expected to be complete by the end of June. There will then be a month for the grass to grow and plants to establish, before the Park opens to the public sometime in August. Discussion has started about an opening event. Six of Paul Forrest’s red admiral butterflies have been commissioned to go in the playground. https://paulforrest.co.nz/galleries/butterflies-and-moths

There is another round of Annual Plan consultation starting in July. The Association will continue to look for opportunities to promote a start on Carrara Park toilets while also advocating for 177 Owen Street toilets.

See the full minutes here

Notes from the Newtown Residents’ Association May meeting

May 31, 2025Meetings, NewsR.C.

This meeting was held on 19^th May 2025 at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St. These were some of the topics discussed – see the full minutes for more details.

Newtown Parking Plan update
Most attendees have applied for Residents’ Parking Permits without any problems, although two people had an issue with finding acceptable proof of address. The Newtown East parking changes will start on June 24^th.

Local Body Elections – Meet the Candidates Meetings
Captain Andrew Wilson, of the local Salvation Army, spoke with the meeting. TSA are happy to assist with the democratic process by hosting Candidate Meetings at their Hall at 4 Normanby St.

The meetings will be held on Monday evenings – 25th August for Greater Wellington Regional Council, 1st September Wellington City Council Paekawakawa/ Southern Ward and Māori Ward candidates, and 8th September for candidates for Mayor of Wellington.

Wellington Heritage Festival – October 18th till November 9th
Paul Forrest is keen to repeat his talk about the history of the Town Belt and the associated walk. People at the meeting were also interested in another exhibition of Newtown historic photos. The Gallery at 247 Riddiford St was suggested as a venue – the Rice Pudding Gallery used last year is already booked.

Newtown Issues and Concerns
Duncan McLean (Duncan McLean Denim) and Paige Simoneau (Black Coffee) of the Newtown Business Group addressed the meeting.

Duncan talked about the clean-up Newtown events that the business group have organised with the MPs Office and WCC, and the difficulty of keep the streets clean. He also talked about how the increased number of rough sleepers is challenging. He called on all to work together and work on supporting each other.
He noted that the Council has $10 million dollars in the LTP Budget for Suburban Centre upgrades. Newtown and Johnsonville are likely contenders – and Duncan advocates for Newtown having priority.

Paige described the mahi she has undertaken with business and community organisations, including the ‘Newtown Consortium’ public meetings. She said they are organising workshops, including ‘Eyes On’ training for businesses at Newtown Community Centre on 22 and 26 May https://ourcbd.co.nz/, to address challenges with interacting with some in the street community. There could be more de-escalation workshops coming up which could be available to residents as well as organisations. Paige emphasised that Police and Council encourage everyone to report concerns; businesses can register with ‘Eyes On’ for reporting, others can report to the Police (111 or 105 if not so urgent) or Council – either Fixit or a phone call.

Andrew Wilson, Salvation Army, added his experiences, including the resources at their large local site. He talked about his background with Salvation Army work in different areas.
The issues of concern in Newtown are systemic and it will take many years to fully resolve, but there are things that can be done in the meantime. Giving people respect and humanity is the first stage to getting them back on track. De-escalation is a complicated challenge, but can be summarised as: Acknowledge; Engage and explain effects; Suggest consequences. It is important not to take a negative interaction personally.
It is also a good idea to have a plan, particularly one that tamariki can learn to apply when walking down the street, on their own or in groups, if they feel intimidated – eg, take shelter in a nearby shop.

The vacant site at 198 Adelaide Rd
This is the former TipTop site next to Woolworths Supermarket. The site was bought by a developer, but their proposal for housing didn’t get Resource Consent from WCC- the rumour was that this was because the proposal was for a relatively low-rise development in an area zoned high rise. The site is now going to be used as a car park, which will provide extra parking for hospital parking.
This solves a parking problem but it is unfortunate that it doesn’t help with the extra housing we want for Newtown. It is noted that the Ferguson Street Ioane Vito Centre is for sale – that would be an excellent place for a housing development.

See the full minutes here.

Progress on Cararra Park Toilets!

May 24, 2025NewsR.C.

We finally have some good news about the long running problem of No Toilets for people visiting Carrara Park. It’s been a long time coming but at the WCC Council Meeting on Thursday 22nd May this motion was passed –

1.30 Agree per resolution of Kōrau Tōtōpū | Long-term Plan, Finance, and Performance Committee on 15 February 2024, that work to upgrade Carrara Park Toilets will commence within the 2025/26 FY.

We are extremely grateful to Cr Nureddin Abdurahman who has been very persistent in advocating on our behalf, ably supported by Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon – and ultimately we’re grateful to all the Councillors, there was no opposition to this motion. So, with the financial year due to start on July 1st, we hope to see some action very soon!

Submission to the WCC Long Term Plan Amendment and Annual Plan

April 23, 2025Consultation, NewsR.C.

This was submitted on 21st April 2025. As usual with Wellington City Council consultations there was a submission form asking for approval or disapproval of a number of budget items. Our President, Rhona Carson, used this form on behalf of the Association, but noted that “This submission on behalf of the Newtown Residents’ Association has not taken a position … on the majority of the Long Term Plan Amendment Options. There is a range of views about these, and many Newtown residents will be making individual submissions.”

A copy of the submitted form can be seen below, and we also included a narrative submission, which covered some issues we did want to comment on. These were about the operation of Te Awe Māpara, the Community Facilities Plan, and also about the long-standing issue of the provision of toilets in Carrara Park, and now also in the new Owen St Park.

Let’s Talk – 2024-34 Long-term Plan Amendment and 2025_26 Annual Plan Submission Form

Newtown Residents’ Association LTP & AP submission 2025

Notes from the April 2025 Association Meeting

April 17, 2025Consultation, Meetings, NewsR.C.

This meeting was at 7.30pm on Monday April 14 at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St Newtown. Our local City Councillors, DM Laurie Foon and Cr Nureddin Abdurahman, were at the meeting to discuss the WCC consultations on the Long Term Plan Amendment, Annual Plan and Wellington Water Done Well. The deadline for submissions to Wellington City Council is Monday 21st April.

The Newtown Parking Plan

Paul Barker Wellington City Council Street Transformation Manager, attended the meeting to talk about this. He outlined the parking plan, which is already operating in Berhampore and Newtown West and is due to begin in Newtown East on June 24th. For more details go to https://www.transportprojects.org.nz/current/berhampore-and-newtown-parking-scheme – the interactive map comparing the current parking regulations with the new ones is very helpful.

The first phase of the Parking Plan has been reviewed, and the WCC Koata Hātepe | Regulatory Processes Committee meeting on Wednesday 9th April agreed to investigating the need for more restricted spaces in Berhampore, and extending the zones for residents’ permits to include residents in the local commercial centre. Permits are allocated in priority order – currently there are nine priorities. Local Centre could be a tenth priority.

Residents in Newtown east will receive a letter and a leaflet in early May – this will have information on the parking changes and how to apply for a resident parking permit and visitor permits. Applications for residents’ permits will be open from mid-May. The application is done online or by phone.

The discussion covered a number of issues, including how to help people from refugee and migrant communities where there is a language barrier to find out about and understand the new rules, the site specific parking issues around the Zoo and Newtown Park, and assurance that Constable St residents living inside the Local Centre Zone who are currently eligible for a parking permit will still be eligible in future. See the the full minutes for these and other topics.

A discussion of the WCC open consultations followed – Long Term Plan amendment, Annual Plan and Local Water Done Well. Submissions close on Monday April 21st.

DM Laurie Foon clarified that anything that is not listed in the consultation document is remaining in the LTP and is not being consulted on. This includes the Arts Funding, which was agreed in the previous round of consultation.

LTP amendment consultation

Cr Nureddin outlined the process leading to the amendment about not selling the airport shares, and listed some of the proposals for funding changes resulting from this.

As usual the Consultation Submission Form focusses on these projects and asks submitters whether they approve or disapprove of various options. It is important to realise that submissions don’t have to be limited to these projects, anything can be mentioned in a submission, and feedback can be about projects from any area of the city.

For instance there is local concern about when the Carrara Park toilets will be installed. This was approved by Council in August 2023 but when Cr Nureddin enquired about progress the answer was that nothing has happened yet because it is scheduled for year four of the LTP (the next Council). We thought it had higher priority, and we will request that this be brought forward and included in the current Annual Plan.

There was also discussion about the new 177 Owen St Park, now under construction and making good progress. The request for a toilet in those plans was defeated – there is a Council policy of no toilet if there is another public one within 5 mins walk. We could reopen this request.

Another local issue is that there is money in the proposed LTM for Suburban Centre Upgrades, Newtown and Johnsonville are likely candidates.

Annual Plan – Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon spoke about this

There is a proposal that the Council provide $700,000 each year to Taranaki Tenths Trust to maintain Mātai Moana Reserve on Miramar Peninsula. This is something we could consider supporting. https://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/projects/matai-moana-reserve

Commercial rates for Air B & B providers are suggested in the Annual Plan. Any submissions on this topic will be of interest. Cr Nureddin noted that this is a very tricky issue.

The projected rates rise is 12.2%. This includes 1.4% for the waste minimisation fund.

Local Water Done Well

This is a very big decision. The options are

A multi-council water services organisation with all the Greater Wellington Councils. The water related assets, debt, revenue and liabilities would be transferred to the new entity. The costs would no longer be included in Council rates, households would be charged directly for their consumption.

A Wellington-only water services organisation – similar to the above but solely owned by WCC and only applying to Wellington water services.

Continuing with existing arrangements, WCC owns the assets and services are contracted out to Wellington Water.

Water meters are probable whichever option is decided.

Cr Nureddin noted that with existing arrangements it would take 660 years to fix the pipes.

We can feed back into this process if we have concerns about: The potential for privatisation, Lack of Council control over the new entity, Potential of the new entity to avoid any targeting of charges.

Transferring 3 waters to a regional entity would mean that City Council would have reduced assets to secure borrowing.

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