Grow up, Wellington
Wellington needs to grow up if it wants to solve its housing crisis, a report says.
At the heart of the problem is the lack of supply, and one way to solve this is raising height limits in the suburbs to match those in the city centre.
The advice comes from a recent Housing Forum, at which 70 stakeholders from the housing sector, community organisations and politicians came up with solutions to problems identified by the Mayor’s Housing Task Force.
Its recommendations also include allowing more infill housing in suburbs, incentives for affordable housing, and investigating ways to speed up development processes.
The report has divided opinions among councillors, and is certain to be unwelcome to many suburban residents.
It says: ‘‘Wellington needs affordable housing examples that are positive to get community support and deal with Nimbys [those who say ‘Not In My Back Yard’].’’
But Wayne Newman, treasurer of the Creswick Valley Residents’ Association, which represents Northland and parts of Wilton and Karori, said all residents were Nimbys at heart.
They would have concerns about the effects of higherdensity housing and taller buildings on character, sunlight, parking and infrastructure, especially in Northland with its narrow streets and tightly packed, hill-bound sections.
The council should first look at flat land for residential use, especially around Te Aro in the inner city, he said.
The forum suggests making the height and density controls in outer residential areas – currently 8 metres in height, and 35 per cent site coverage – the same as in the inner residential area, where they are 12m, and 50 per cent site coverage.
A report with a summary of the recommendations says existing infill controls in the outer residential area should be relaxed to allow for more housing development, and suggests on-site parking requirements should be reduced in medium-density areas that are close to public transport.
It costs about $30,000 in lost development rights and construction costs to provide an on-site car park, the documents say.
Wellington Deputy Mayor Paul Eagle, who is also chairman of the Housing Task Force, said, if the recommendations were included in the final Task Force report, they would have to be area-dependent and based on infrastructure.
‘‘Councillors will need to talk about adopting it on the basis of how it could be used on a suburb-by-suburb basis. We would need to do some work and look at where it would be appropriate.’’
Councillor Diane Calvert, who lives in Khandallah, said any solution could not adopt a onesize-fits-all approach.
‘‘While there is a need for intensification, not everyone wants to live in high-density areas. We need to offer people choice.’’
Wellington engineer and developer Maurice Clark said the only way was up. ‘‘We have got to build up. There is so little land, we can’t spread out.’’
First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson said intensification was the answer to helping regenerate treasured areas and help them to develop.
He was working on several projects in Auckland’s urban centres, including areas of planned intensification and gentrification, such as the Dominion Rd corridor.
‘‘Interestingly, these developments recognise contemporary living doesn’t rely on residents owning their own vehicles, and are planned to leverage good and increasing public transport networks.’’