Outrage at 11th-hour height limit changes
After years of consultation and hand-wringing, crucial last-minute changes were made to Wellington’s planning laws that could change the face of the capital’s most recognisable suburbs.
The Wellington City Council on Thursday voted in its new district plan – a rule book for how the city can develop. Now only Housing Minister Chris Bishop can intervene by either going with an expert panel’s recommendations and appeasing heritage and character advocates, or going with the pro-intensification council.
Amendments made by councillors on the day of the vote suddenly increased height limits from 11m to 22m – about six storeys – in much larger swathes of city-fringe suburbs Mount Victoria, Thorndon, Mount Cook and Aro Valley. See an interactive map comparing versions on right.
It means a section of Tinakori Rd, near the motorway off-ramp, right up to the immediate neighbour of Premier House, can now be built up to 22m when the expert panel suggested 11m. The number of Mount Victoria properties given the same treatment has increased hugely, as they have in Aro St and Mount Cook.
Thorndon Residents’ Association President Richard Murcott said, in rejecting the independent hearing panel’s recommendations, the council ditched a “real consultation process which was open and transparent”.
Many people would have only just realised on Friday morning, after the vote, that they and their neighbours could now build significantly higher.
“When people were invited [to submit], they did not expect it to be vandalised by a process like this which just runs roughshod over the map,” he said.
Pukehīnau/Lambton ward councillor Nicola Young labelled them “changes on the hoof after years of consultation” and said it was a result of “idealogical councillors ignoring expert advice”.
Fellow councillor Iona Pannett said
The council had the “democratic mandate” to make changes.
Councillor Rebecca Matthews
community views had been “disregarded and decision making has been top down rather than bottom up”.
But councillor Rebecca Matthews, whose amendment forced the changes, said councillors had got to the point where public consultation was no longer possible and, by the day of the vote, had the “democratic mandate” to make changes.
Crucially, not all zoned land would be actually developed, meaning many of the areas could remain largely as they were, she said.
Matthews said the further intensification was consulted on as part of the talks about more intensification within 15 minutes walk of the city.
Geordie Rogers, the final ward councillor of the affected area, said it was “incredibly important” Wellington could grow in a sustainable way. “We know that it hasn’t been able to in the past, and much of that has led to our massively high land prices.
“I spent some time in Thorndon as a renter a couple of years ago and it’s such an awesome place. I can’t wait for more people to be able to enjoy it, and even better, enjoy being able to live there without a car if they don’t want one.”
Mayor Tory Whanau did not respond by deadline.
The intensification versus heritage protection issue has been a controversial topic in Wellington for years, with a draft spatial plan in 2020 starting the ball rolling on the 2024 district plan. That had up to three storeys – a storey is typically about 3m – along Tinakori Rd, with Mount Victoria being about half six storeys or more, and half up to three storeys. Aro St was then mostly six or more storeys.
Fast forward to the proposed district plan in 2022. Most of Aro St was 22m, with Mount Victoria a mix of 11m and 22m, while Thorndon on the hill side of Tinakori Rd was almost all 11m.
Then an independent hearings panel came back in 2024 and drastically increased the number of areas it recommended to council to get heritage protection from 85 hectares to 206 hectares. Under that, large parts of Mount Victoria were capped at 11m while most of Aro St was capped at 11m or 12m, as was the hill side of Tinakori Rd.