A milestone for Newtown Festival – and Newtown Residents’ Association

Local Events, News

On Saturday April 5th there was a party in Carrara Park – a surprise party for Residents’ Association members Martin Hanley and Anna Kemble Welch, marking their retirement as Directors of Newtown Festival. They have been involved with the Festival since the very beginning 30 years ago, and moved into the roles of Director and Associate Director in 2008. Now they will continue as Newtown Festival Trustees, while other members of the team carry on with the day-to-day work. Newtown Festival will continue – the next Festival will be on March 8th 2026.

Newtown Festival has a long history. It started in 1995 when Neal Palmer, the Wellington City Council Arts Officer of the time, proposed an event to celebrate the newly completed Carrara Park. Local residents Peter Frater, Chris Renwick, Martin Hanley and Anna Kemble Welch agreed to support it and organise a programme of performers. This was so successful it was repeated the following year. In 1997 the WCC proposed moving the Festival into the main street, and it has continued every year since, by popular demand.

The 1997 Festival only closed part of one street, but it grew steadily as different groups asked to participate. New stages were established, the demand for stall sites increased, and different activities, such as street sports for young people, were proposed and acted on. By 2015 the current footprint of Newtown Festival was established – it runs from Hall St/ Mein St to Rhodes St/ Russell Tce in Riddiford St and includes all the connecting side streets, at least in part.

At first the Festival was organised by WCC but then a committee of the Newtown Residents’ Association continued it, with Council support, until the Association initiated the formation of the Newtown Festival Trust in 2017.

On Saturday there was a lovely gathering of Newtown Festival team members and supporters, past and present. It was particularly special to have 4 of the 5 founders of the Festival present, Neal Palmer, Peter Frater, Anna and Martin. Sadly Chris Renwick died in March 2020.

Here are a few photos of the occasion:

The Founders – Neal Palmer, the WCC Arts Officer who got it going, Martin Hanley, Peter Frater, and Anna Kemble Welch. As well as being one of the first organisers Peter went on to be Newtown Festival Director for several years, handing over to Martin and Anna in 2008. He is also our only Newtown Residents’ Association Life Member.
Festival Trustees -Ian McKinnon was one of the original Trustees. The current Trustees are Deirdre Tarrant (who founded Footnote Dance NZ), Martin, Anna,  Andy Nichols (Chair -was Chapman Tripp managing partner, now District Court Judge), and James Coyle (a Newtown Resident, was the Festival programme director for many years until he got a job with Massey College of Creative Arts).  Noel Woods (who coordinates the Tangata Whenua Stage) is also a Trustee but sadly away at a funeral.
The current Newtown Festival core team: Emi Pogoni Programme Coordinator, Martin Hanley Director, Barrie Hutton Production Manager, Anna Kemble Welch Associate Director and Chief Marshall, Rhona Carson Festival Administrator (also Newtown Residents’ Association President).

Notice of Meeting, April 2025

Consultation, Local Events, Meetings, News

This meeting will be on Monday April 14th, 7.30-9.0pm, at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St.
(it isn’t the usual 3rd Monday of the month – the 3rd Monday in April- 21/4/25 – is Easter Monday)

The agenda will include:

A discussion of the WCC open consultations – LTP amendment, Annual Plan and Local Water Done Well.

The Newtown Parking Plan – due to commence in Newtown East on June 24th.

Other Newtown News

All welcome! We hope to see you there.                              

Notes from the Newtown Residents Association March meeting.

Consultation, Local Events, Meetings, News

This meeting was 7.30 pm 17th March 2025 at the St Thomas’s Community Lounge.

Rhona Carson, Association President, welcomed the guest speaker, Welington City Missioner Murray Edridge, and other attendees.

Rhona passed on thanks from Martin Hanley, Newtown Festival Director, to all who contributed to the Newtown Festival on March 2nd.

Car parking for Association meetings: It was noted that the McDonald’s car park time limit has changed from 90 to 60 minutes and people are being prosecuted for parking there for 90 minutes. The P60 on-street parking restrictions apply between 8am and 6pm, so parking on the street during meetings is recommended. See the official information here.

Guest Speaker

Murray Edridge, Wellington City Missioner, talked about Whakamaru, the new building which opened in November, and the work that WCM does from there and at other WCM facilities.

He noted that the situation for those challenged in the community is as dire as it has ever been. There is an increase in the homeless population, exacerbated by the decreased availability of emergency housing.

Several WCM services are focussed on housing options. In Wellington. These include Te Pā Pori, the Tory Street Supported Transitional Housing Facility; Te Pā Maru, the previous Night Shelter on Taranaki Street which now provides accommodation for substance users; Te Ō – a Kāinga Ora complex in Mt Cook, where WCM provides 24/7 support to the residents; and Whakamaru, the new facility, which has transitional housing as well as a range of other services.

These services include:

  • Craig and Gail’s Café – a vibrant community hub open to all where there is no ‘us and them’. Customers pay what they can.
  • There are meeting spaces with excellent connectivity and services. These gather people in.
  • Social Supermarket
  • Laundry and showers
  • Medical Centre and other practitioners: social workers, support workers, financial mentors.
  • Crisis Recovery Café. People in distress can drop in to the Café at any time 24/7 to seek support from staff who are trained and supported to provide it.

Murray answered questions about the services. He also praised the staff and volunteers who make the services work – including some of our members at the meeting who are part of the WCM team.  He was thanked and warmly applauded for his contribution.

Neighbours’ Gathering at Carrara Park Rhona invited attendees to this event on Saturday March 22nd from 1pm – 4pm We at Newtown Residents’ Association are hosting this event to celebrate Neighbours Aotearoa.

Update on the new Community Park, 177 Owen St – work has started on the Park construction. The WCC officers have been consulting with Manu Whenua, who are going to give a name to the park.

Urban Renewal: Adelaide Road, a case study on Brownfields Redevelopment. A panel discussion was run by the Urban Development Institute (UDINZ) on 6 March at Whakamaru. Hilary Watson, Steve Dunn and Carol Comber attended.
Hilary reported back and referred us to this review of the meeting: https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360605726/ripe-development-failed-plans-adelaide-road

Consultation and development of a plan for Adelaide Road was initiated by WCC in 2008, but little has been completed.

Ian Cassels spoke on the panel about the successful development of the ‘Monark building’ on the corner of King Street.

WCC consultations.  Consultation on the Long Term Plan (LTP) amendment, the Annual Plan, and the Local Water Done Well, will be happening from March 20th to April 21st.

There will be 2 in-person consultations in our ward. The first consultation meeting will be at Newtown Library Saturday 22nd March 10.30am – 12pm, the second at Island Bay Library, Thursday 10 April, 12–1.30pm. 

Date of the next meeting: 14th April. The 3rd Monday in April, 21st April, is Easter Monday. Rhona proposed moving to 14th April – still 4 weeks between meetings, and allows time to discuss the WCC consultations before submissions close.

See the full minutes of the March Meeting here.Download

Newtown Residents’ Association February 2025 Meeting

Local Events, Meetings, News

This meeting will be on Monday February 17th, 7.30-9.0pm, at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St.

The agenda will include

  •  Ingrid Downey, Project Manager Dwell Housing Trust, describing their plans for new housing in Gordon Place.  Dwell have bought the Wellington City Mission property left vacant when WCM moved to Whakamaru, and they already owned another property – this will all be redeveloped.
  • A progress report on Newtown Festival – which will be on Sunday 2nd March.
  • A discussion about pedestrian safety – see below.
  • A review of other local issues and events.

                  All welcome! We hope to see you there.         

Newtown Events in Wellington Heritage Festival: 26/10/24 -17/11/24

Local Events, News
DateEventHost, presenterWhereIs booking required?
Any time during the FestivalSelf-guided tour of Truby King Park Using smart phone and QR codesWellington Gardens –Wellington City Council21B Manchester TerraceNo
11am-12:30 Sat 26 Oct & Thurs 31Oct‘Old Town’ Newtown Walking TourClaire NolanMeet Cnr Constable and Riddiford StsAlready fully booked
11am-4pm Sat 26 -Mon 28 Oct then Thurs 31 Oct – Sun 3 NovNewtown in Photographs and Story  
An Exhibition		Newtown Residents’ Association.   Exhibition curated by Chris RabeyRice Pudding Gallery 91 Constable St. No
10-11:00 am Wed 30 Oct & 2-3:00 pm Wed 30 Oct  Visit ANZ Bank’s Archives and Museum  ANZ Bank New Zealand Ltd Archives  Level 1, 2a Green St   (the former ANZ  Bank building)Yes  -free entry Contact joanna.newman@anz.com to book. 10 people per visit.  
7:30-9pm Wed 30 Oct & 4-5:30pm Sat 2 NovNewtown (and beyond) on Film  (2 showings)Te Whare Hapori o ngā Puna Waiora / Newtown Community CentreCnr Rintoul St and Colombo StYes – cost $18 waged, $10 unwaged
Rescheduled from 9/11
2:00-3:00pm Sat 2 Nov  
Rain day 3rd November		Bring Back the Natives: Green Belt, Newtown. Walking tour and Butterfly  Art installationPaul Forrest   with   Newtown Residents’ Association.  Meet at the Southern end of Owen Street.  No
7:15-8:30pm Wed 6 Nov  Newtown’s Flora, Fauna, Land and Waterways   A talk in two parts  Newtown Residents’ Association.   Presenters  Yadana Saw and Paul ForrestNewtown Community Centre Theatre. Cnr Rintoul St and Colombo StNo
7:00-8:15pm Thu 7 Nov  “Gowns, Streams, and Essence of Filth” – The Archaeology of NewtownNewtown Residents’ Association. Presenter Mary O’Keefe, ArchaeologistNewtown Community Centre Theatre. Cnr Rintoul St and Colombo StNo
11am-4pm Thurs 7 – Sun 10 Nov; Thurs 14 – Sun 17 NovNewtown Adventure Playground 1974: Photographs by John McWilliamHilary Watson   with   Newtown Residents’ Association.  Rice Pudding Gallery 91 Constable St. No
7:00-9:00pm Wed 13 Nov  Renovations: Housing in 1970s-80s & Newtown Community Centre in 2023
A talk in two parts  		Newtown Residents’ Association.   Presenters  1.Peter Healy 2. Eryn Gribble and      Ellie ClaytonNewtown Community Centre Theatre. Cnr Rintoul St and Colombo StNo.
Entry by koha
11am-6pm Sat 16 Nov  Polish Christmas MarketPolish Association in New Zealand Inc  Dom Polski – 257 Riddiford St and in Rhodes StNo

See the full programme of events here. They cover the whole Wellington Region – including the Wairarapa.

Minutes of the 2024 AGM

Meetings, News

This meeting was held on Monday September 16th at the St Thomas’s Community Lounge.

The meeting received the President’s Annual Report and the Treasurer’s Financial Report.

The following people were elected unopposed as Officers of the Association:

President:  Rhona Carson

Vice Presidents:  Jane Patterson and Martin Hanley

Secretary: Rhona Carson 

Treasurer:  Sam Somers

Committee: Carol Comber, Steve Cosgrove, Marion Leighton, Stephen Pritchard, Penny Sturgess, Hilary Watson, Michelle Wolland.

President Rhona Carson thanked all the Candidates, in particular Michelle for her service as Treasurer over the past 4 years and Sam for being willing to take up the role.

Rhona also noted that she is intending this to be her last year as President. By the time of the next AGM she will have been President for 10 years, and she thinks it is good for any Association to have a process of renewal. Hopefully over the next year a willing and able candidate to be the next President will come forward.

A matter arising from the 2023 Minutes was continuing discussion of the need for Constitutional Changes, required by the Incorporated Societies Act 2022. This revision is still a work in progress.

Other Business included a discussion about Wellington Heritage Festival events in Newtown, and information about the Wellington City Mission move to their new Oxford Tce base, Whakamaru, in November.

See the full minutes for this – and more.

Reminder of AGM on Monday 16th September

Meetings, News

The meeting will be 7.30-9.00 pm, at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St.

Agenda

Apologies– please send any apologies to newtownwellington@gmail.com
Minutes of the NRA AGM 2023: to be approved (please review – the minutes will be taken as read at the meeting)

Matters arising from the minutes 

The President’s Report

Treasurer’s Report and presentation of accounts for 2023-24

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.

The Laura Rosier History of Newtown is now online

News

Laura Rosier (1927-1994) came to Newtown with her family as a baby and lived here for the rest of her life. She and her husband Vaughan were active members of our Residents’ Association. Laura spent the 1980s and early 1990s researching and compiling a history of Newtown, but sadly she died suddenly in February 1994. What happened to the manuscript after that is outlined in the Introduction to the book.

After a long hiatus the book was edited, and we have now uploaded it to our Local History page.

Here is a selection of photos as a preview – click to enlarge

Clockwise – The Newtown Hotel, cnr Constable and Riddiford, 1904. The same building converted to the Ascot Theatre, 1969. The Last Tram, coming along John St, 1964.

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Meetings, News

The 2024 Newtown Residents’ Association AGM will be on Monday September 16th 2024, 7.30-9.00 pm, at the Community Lounge, St Thomas’s Church, 200 Riddiford St.

The AGM is when we discuss the year’s activities and plan for the future. We will also elect the Association Officers (President, Vice President(s), Secretary, Treasurer) and other Executive members for 2024-2025. If you are an Association member you are invited to consider putting your name forward for one of these positions  – you are welcome to contact us at newtownwellington@gmail.com  if you would like to discuss this.

If you need to renew your membership here is a link to the membership form. There will also be paper membership forms at the meeting.

At the 2023 AGM we announced a review of the Association’s Rules, and the necessary changes to comply with the Incorporated Societies Act 2022, and this year we plan to present an updated Constitution for approval.

Before the AGM there will be an updated post with a more detailed agenda, including links to the President’s Report and the Financial Report.       

All Welcome!

Notes of the August 2024 Meeting

Local Events, Meetings, News

The meeting was held on Monday 19th August at the St Thomas’s Community Lounge. This is quite a long post because of the number of discussions and news items.

Association President Rhona Carson welcomed everyone, particularly our Council representatives DM Laurie Foon and Cr Nureddin Abdurahman, and introduced Jesse Gale to talk about MacAlistair Park restoration.

MacAlister Park Restoration Group
Jesse Gale attended to introduce this mahi to the group. Geoff Simmons, the group convenor who made the initial approach, was unable to attend. Geoff, and friend Ed Hearnshaw (now deceased), started the group (called ‘Charlie’s Angels’) around ten years ago to restore the Prince of Wales Park. They group has applied to WCC for funding for new tools, but as they aren’t a legal entity they need another group to ‘umbrella’ this, and they are asking if the Residents’ Association can provide this – which we agreed to.      

There are about 20 adult members, with other whānau, who go out about once a month to return gorse and unusable land to native bush. The plants are provided by the Council. The exact days of activity vary; they are usually a weekend day. If anyone is interested in getting involved Geoff Simmons is the contact – geoffsimmonz@gmail.com.  Map reference link

Berhampore and Newtown West Parking
Rhona had asked for feedback about the Parking Plan, and had received written and verbal reports from some people unable to be at the meeting.  These were positive, with the people concerned finding it much easier to park outside their homes. Those at the meeting were generally in agreement.

Some are unhappy about the need to pay for a parking permit, and wonder why Newtown and Berhampore are the first suburbs with this requirement. Cr Nureddin explained some of the background to the parking changes, particularly why Newtown was the first suburb to get these changes.  Rhona summed up the history of parking concerns in Newtown, with requests for more residents space for parking.  

A question was raised about whether the rules applied on public holidays.  DM Laurie will check this out. There are no CBD parking restrictions on public holidays.  

Newtown Community Consortium Meeting at Black Coffee, July 26th
This meeting was organised by Duncan McLean and Paige Simoneau from the Newtown Business Group. The purpose of the meeting was to gather ideas, voice concerns and create partnerships within the community for support and safety. There was a very good attendance with nearly 50 people present, including representatives from various agencies –social services, WCC, Police and others – and many local residents.

DM Laurie Foon and Penny Sturgess both went to the meeting and reported their impressions of it. There was a lot of positive feeling for Newtown, but also many concerns about safety and security.
DM Laurie added that Downtown Community Ministries (DCM) are out on the streets, and she has been very impressed with their work.  It is better to donate to DCM than to beggars. The Fixit App is very useful to log any troubling events (but call 111 if there are threats to safety).
There is likely to be a Community Cleanup event on 15 September. [Now confirmed].

Interest in Emmett and Green Streets having Historic Heritage designations
DM Laurie and Cr Nureddin have been talking with local people about progressing this mahi.

Wellington Heritage Festival
Alex Hockley (Wellington Heritage Festival CEO) reported that the brochure of events would be released soon. About 150 events are being held throughout the region.  Twelve are in Newtown, and six of these have been initiated by the Newtown Residents’ Association – there will be more information about these coming soon. The Festival is running from 26 October to 17 November.

Newtown Mini-Events
Newtown Festival has arranged with WCC for Wilson Street and Newtown Avenue to be able to be closed a few times a year for live events.  These will be well publicised ahead of time. An advance notice – the Latino Community are organising a Day of the Dead Festival to be held on Saturday 2 November outside Viva Mexico, in the Wilson St carpark.

Newtown Festival Sunday 2nd March 2025
More than 240 people have already applied for stalls (about 400 are expected), and expressions of interest for performers are coming in. See https://www.newtownfestival.org.nz/ for both those links.

Cancer Society Relay for Life
The Society are interested in having this at Newtown Park in March next year; still to be decided.

Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards
Congratulations to Newtown Tool Library who got runner-up for the environment awards. See here for the list of winners. [Additional note – Wellington Community Choir who rehearse at Te Whaea at 7pm on Wednesdays were the runner up in the Arts and Culture category, and several other local organisations including Smart Newtown, Quick Kai, Wellington Timebank (all from Newtown Community Centre) and Wellington City Mission were finalists. Congratulations to all involved!]

Te Aro Zero Waste
The Sustainability Trust and Wellington City Council have created a partnership to offer more services. Instead of making the trip to the WCC Landfill Tip Shop you can now go to the Sustainability Trust premises at 2 Forresters Lane to drop off items for recycling or reuse, purchase secondhand items, and more. See https://sustaintrust.org.nz/tearozerowaste. Open hours Wednesday – Saturday 10am – 4pm.

Affordability for Sports in Wellington
Cr Nurredin informed us that a report has been prepared on this subject and will be reviewed by Council soon.

Gillies McIndoe Research Institute – 7 Hospital Road
Graeme Carroll drew our attention to an important recent activity at GMRI.  Dr Swee Tan, the lead researcher on the Glioblastoma Phase II clinical trial is recruiting patients recently diagnosed with glioblastoma as participants. The trial will investigate a safe combination of repurposed drugs that is hypothesised to regulate cancer stem cells. If you wish to know more about the Phase II trial, see https://www.facebook.com/GMRINZ/  – a post from July 22 – or email info@gmri.org.nz for more information.

177 Owen Street (previously known as Workingmen’s Bowling Club) redevelopment
The bowling club club rooms have been demolished and work is progressing on creating the new Park, including extensive sound checking to determine the optimal stage placement.

Newtown Residents’ Association Membership
Rhona reminded people that the new financial year started on July 1st and membership renewals are now due. The Membership Form is here. There are also paper membership forms available at meetings.

See the full minutes below.

Minutes NRA Meeting August 2024

Notes of the July 2024 meeting

Meetings, News
  • Carol Comber updated the meeting with progress at Mount Cook Mobilised and Mt Cook Connect. Newtown Residents’ Association has an umbrella agreement with MCM for funding applications, as MCM are not an incorporated society, and Carol is the contact person involved with both Associations.
  • There was a discussion on the initial effect of changes to Berhampore parking. The parking changes appeared to be working OK so far, with a lot of free car parks, but the plan had only been operational for a short time.
  • Progress on 177 Owen Street redevelopment into a public park. Removal of the old buildings was underway at the time of the meeting.
  • Safety in Newtown – two months ago two Newtown focused police officers came to the Association meeting, and recently we have heard that there are City Council Safety Officers focussing on what is going on in Newtown, and working with DCM and local police. It was noted that there seemed to be fewer safety concerns over the past month. However there was a ram-raid at the Coromandel Dairy during the night on Wednesday 10 July.  A speeding car crashed through and broke the doors then took off again. Nothing was taken.
  • Newtown Residents’ Association Constitution. The Incorporated Societies Act 2022 requires all societies to re-register by 2026, and we are planning to have an updated Constitution ready to present to our AGM in September.  We talked about updating the Association’s Objectives, and a couple of volunteers agreed to have a look at this.

See the full minutes below.

Minutes of the Newtown Residents’ Association Meeting 15 July 2024Download

Notes from the June Meeting

Consultation, Meetings, News

This meeting was on June 17th 2024. These were the topics discussed.

The Parking Scheme for Berhampore and West Newtown – due to start on Monday 24th June.

Attendees affected by the new parking scheme talked about their experiences of applying for permits, and their concerns. DM Laurie Foon took notes, in order to follow up with the WCC Officers responsible for the scheme.

Laurie Foon passed on some information

-for the first 3 weeks of the scheme only warning tickets will be issued.

– there will be a review of the scheme after the first 6 months.

The new park at 177 Owen St

This is the former Workingmen’s Bowling Club site. When the WCC Councillors discussed the Park proposal on June 6th they agreed that the existing club buildings could be demolished (too costly to fix) and the site developed into a neighbourhood park for community use and small events. There is already $1,500,000 in the budget for this. Cr Nureddin Abdurahman proposed an amendment to request that toilets be included, but when put to the vote the result was 9 for and 9 against, with the Chairperson’s casting vote being against. The official Council policy is that toilets aren’t needed because there are other public toilets within 5 mins walk – at Newtown Park.

Since the Council meeting Rhona Carson, Steve Dunn, Cheryl Robilliard and Jane Patterson have had a meeting with Sanjay Patel and David Halliday, the WCC Officers overseeing the project, to discuss the plans further. The intention is for demolition of the buildings to start in the near future, and the redevelopment to happen within the year. The plan is for a large open space for general recreation and events, including BBQs, seating, a children’s play area and a stage.  There is some continuing discussion about the best position for the stage.

The discussion at the meeting agreed that the decision not to include toilets was short-sighted. The Association is likely to to look for an opportunity to have this reconsidered.

Community Garden at Carrara Park

Currently the plots are kept in order by a few neighbours (who are Association members), but new gardeners would be welcomed. Recently the Association applied to the WCC Community Garden Fund (known as Stone Soup) for a grant, and have received $115 (inc gst) to be spent on compost, seeds, seedings etc for refurbishing the beds.

Wellington Heritage Festival

Assciation President Rhona Carson is still in the process of gathering information for a series of applications for events during the Festival in October-November.

Alex Hockley, the WHF CEO, said that there were about 140 events confirmed so far, with several from Newtown.

Judicial Review

There was a brief discussion of the news that the Live Wellington Trust has filed for a Judicial Review of the WCC decision to reject the District Plan Independent Hearings Panel recommendations about the extent of Character Precincts in inner city suburbs.

See the full minutes here.Download

LIVE WELLington files for a Judicial Review

News

LIVE WELLington is an advocacy group for density done well.

On Monday June 10th, LIVE WELLington lodged judicial review proceedings in the HighCourt. These ask the Court to review the District Plan decision on character areas made by the Wellington City Council and the Minister for RMA Reform.
The group (comprising more than 150 members) has been involved in the District Plan
process from the beginning.
LIVE WELLington believes that with smart urban design, Wellington’s iconic character areas
can be retained at the same time as new, denser housing is introduced to the inner city and
central city areas.
A statement from LIVE WELLington follows:
“The evidence presented during the recent District Plan process was clear –
Wellington has sufficient land to meet housing needs and protect character areas.
The idea these are in conflict is false.
“Unfortunately, some councillors involved in decision-making have held a fixed and
narrow view that character housing stands in the way of ‘affordable’ housing. As a
result, they have refused to engage with the evidence and arguments put forward
that paint a different picture.
“Sadly we now need to go to Court to support evidence-based decision-making by
our Council.
“Wellington City Council rejected recommendations put forward by the Independent
Hearings Panel on this issue. The Panel spent months listening to evidence and
preparing careful and detailed recommendations in accordance with the law.
“Among the evidence presented was that future growth needs can easily be
accommodated without zoning for six storey heights across three quarters of
Wellington’s inner-city suburbs.
“The Independent Hearings Panel recommended that 206 hectares of the current
307 hectares (two thirds) of character areas in Wellington be retained. This would
still be compliant with the National Policy Statement on Urban Development and
would accommodate 30 years of Wellington growth.
“The paltry reasons provided by the Council for their rejections of these
recommendations indicate the move was based more on political performance than
evidence or reasoning.
“The Council essentially refused to change the character areas from those set out in
the proposed District Plan when first notified. These largely mirrored those set out in
the draft Spatial Plan, some years earlier.
“The Council has repeatedly ignored both the evidence and its own officers’
recommendations on this issue.
“RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop likewise provided very few details regarding his
reasoning and the matters he took into account, when accepting the Council’s
recommendations.
“LIVE WELLington is dissatisfied with the approach decision-makers have taken
throughout this process. They have refused to even listen to points of view different
to their own, or accept the evidence-based recommendations of the experts they
appointed.
“A judicial review is a request to have the District Plan decisions regarding the
character areas reviewed by the High Court.
“This is not a decision we have entered into lightly however we believe the approach
taken by the Council and the Minister need to be tested against the law.
“LIVE WELLington is taking this action to ensure decisions reflect the evidence. This
shows that iconic character areas can be retained at the same time as new, denser
housing is introduced to the inner city and central city areas.”

Notes from the Newtown Residents’ Association May Meeting 

Meetings, News

This meeting was held on Monday May 20th 2024, at St Thomas’s Community Lounge.

President Rhona Carson welcomed meeting attendees, introduced guests Community Police Officers Sergeant Mike Byrne and Constable Ash Sutherland, and thanked Cr Nureddin Abdurahman for coming after a long day of Long Term Plan hearings.

Cr Nureddin advised that the Workingman’s Bowling Club building is likely to be demolished, although he opposes this. It was noted that this was after being abandoned for a number of years.  There will be a Council report on this subject soon, and a WCC Social and Economic Committee meeting on 29th May to discuss the report and vote on the way forward.

Cr Nureddin asked for views on the Long Term Plan suggestion of charging for parking in suburban centres – including Newtown.

Community Policing
Mike Byrne and Ash Sutherland talked about the role of the Community Policing Team. There are five officers covering most of South and East Wellington, and Ash is assigned to Newtown.

Ash introduced the topic of people being concerned about those sleeping and begging around Newtown. There was discussion of some specific examples of reactions from and concern about these people. Synthetic cannabis use is currently a significant issue in Newtown.  Mike suggested a YouTube video entitled Seattle is Dying.

The Community Policing team are not ‘reactive’.  Calls to 111 or other urgent calls are usually assigned to offer areas of police who deal with front-line, short-term actions. Community Policing takes a wider view of what is going on in the community, working on long-term solutions along with various agencies who can help.
Mike advised that there are two phone numbers to call police on:

.
Electric Scooters
There was a recent meeting with Ralph Sheppard, Community Relationship Manager for Flamingo Scooters.  The main point is to report problems to the Council using their FixIt app, saying where and when  the scooter is causing a problem, and the brand.  Ralph is confident that Flamingo will get these notifications and take action. They can caution the hirers, and prevent them from hiring if they are persistent offenders. It was noted that Flamingo (the pink scooters) is one of two brands of scooters for hire, the other being Beam. There are also privately owned scooters.

Heritage Week this year will be marked by a number of talks and exhibitions in Newtown. 

See here for the full minutes.Download

Submission on the WCC LTP, 2024-34

Consultation, News

The key issues for the Long-term Plan for the next 10 years are described in the consultation documents as being how much to spend on the three waters network to fix the pipes, how to manage waste collection and recycling, and whether or not to sell the WCC Airport shares to set up a ‘resilience fund’. Other proposed changes include a proposal to introduce parking fees in suburban centres, including Newtown and Berhampore.

We agree that these are all very important issues, but we know that there are a range of different views among our members about how they should be dealt with. Because of this we didn’t take a position on any of these issues in our submission.

Our submission covers local issues that might otherwise be overlooked. These are the topics –

  • Redevelopment of the former Bowling Club at 177 Owen Street
  • Toilets for Carrara Park
  • Proposing a future project – more parks and playspaces
  • A request to extend the Pōneke Promise programme, or something similar, into our local area
  • More funding for the arts and cultural sectors
  • A request to upgrade the Newtown suburban town centre
See here for the full submissionDownload