A major Wellington City Council meeting, partially born from its failed airport share sale, will decide the fate of Begonia House, the Karori events centre and water reform in the capital.
In October last year the council voted not to sell its 34% stake in the Wellington International Airport as part of its 10-year budget – the long-term plan.
The changes saw then Local Government Minister Simeon Brown install Lindsay McKenzie on the council as a Crown observer.
Because of the lack of the airport share sale the council has had to look at setting up a small investment fund via ground leases and cutting back funding for projects and assets.
That has led to Thursday’s council meeting, where, following a round of consultation which saw more than 3000 submissions, councillors will vote on the amended long-term budget.
The council's decision not to sell its 34% stake in Wellington International Airport has meant its long term plan needs to be amended. Photo / RNZ
Begonia House
As part of this process, council officers had recommended the demolition of Begonia House – a popular greenhouse built in 1960 to house exotic plants at the city’s botanic gardens.
It sparked a fierce public campaign to “save Begonia House” which the council agreed to do in principle following public consultation.
Council officers have recommended doing the minimum required work to keep the building open at a cost between $9.9 million and $11 million, but it would not address all safety and environmental concerns.
A petition will be presented at the meeting by the Save Begonia House campaign which had 5357 signatures.
Khandallah Pool
Like Begonia House, Khandallah Pool, which has been in operation for 100 years, has had an axe hovering over it because of its ageing pool tank which sparked a similar campaign among locals.
It also faces flood risks with its proximity to Tyers Stream.
In May last year a report found it would be possible to keep the pool open within a budget of $7.5m.
But council officers have still recommended that the facility be demolished because of the need to create debt headroom and the fact the pool accounted for less than 1% of the overall usage of Wellington’s pools.
It would cost $4.5m to demolish the pool and landscape the site.
Councillor Diane Calvert had been a strong advocate to save the facility.
It was understood by RNZ that an amendment will be brought forward by Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau to fund a fix for it.
Calvert said she appreciated the support of the mayor.
“I’m pretty confident that the council will reaffirm its commitment to refurbish the pool within the budget we set three years ago.”
Karori Events Centre
The Karori Events Centre is a project that was born from a lack of community halls in the suburb. $2.2m was raised by the locals to build the facility with the shell of the building having been completed in 2018.
It was gifted to the council in December 2022 with the intention of them funding the rest of the fit-out of the building, which the council agreed to at a maximum cost of $1.9m.
The council said it would now cost $3.3m to do that work, and its staff recommended it be sold.
Consultation on the plan overwhelmingly rejected the council’s preferred option, with 62% of submitters having indicated a preference to invest more money in the project to finish it.
Chair of the Karori Event Centre trust Heather Baldwin told RNZ she was pleased with the number of submissions that shared their support for the facility.
“We were just flabbergasted when we saw that the recommendation is that they sell the building.
“We just think that is such a breach of bad faith.”
Baldwin said that it did not make sense to go through a consultation process if the community was then going to be ignored.
Cycle network
Paneke Pōneke is Wellington’s cycle network plan which was adopted in March 2022 and was an update of a cycle masterplan which was created 10 years ago.
It aimed to deliver a comprehensive bike network for the capital by 2031.
But due to a reduction in funding from NZTA Waka Kotahi that plan has been derailed and the council will now vote on finishing the bike network over a 20-year period rather than a 10-year period.
The council will vote on whether to delay finishing Wellington's cycle network plan. Photo / RNZ
That change would reduce its budget from $115.2m to $66.9m in the long term plan.
Cycling Network volunteer Patrick Morgan said that the slowdown of building bike lanes would be a mistake but understood that a reduction in central Government funding put pressure on the council.
“I understand that some may think let’s slow down the rate of moving bike lanes, advocates think that would be a mistake because of the huge benefits of building protected bike lanes.”
Water reform
Councillors will also vote on what water service model to use as a replacement for Wellington Water.
Under the Government’s Local Water Done Well reform councils have to decide on how they can set up sustainable organisations to manage water and its related stormwater, sewage and drinking water pipes.
Councils must come up with a water service delivery plan by September 3, 2025.
Wellington City Council consulted a status quo option, setting up a council organisation that solely controls Wellington’s pipes and a multi-council water organisation co-owned by Wellington City, Upper Hutt City, Hutt City, Porirua City and Greater Wellington Regional councils.
The multi-council options have been recommended by council officers due to a range of benefits such as its access to additional borrowing for investment and its size which would allow the organisation to enter better contracts.
