Future Development Strategy 2022 – 2052 Workshops – Update

The Future Development Strategy (FDS) is designed to set out how we want to manage how we grow across the Wellington-Wairarapa-Horowhenua region over the next 30 years, to create liveable, sustainable and well-functioning communities.

The FDS is a statutory document required under the NPS-UD, which will set out a long-term plan to ensure a ‘well-functioning’ urban environment, showing where growth will be, in what form, and what infrastructure is needed to support that growth.  The FDS is the next iteration of spatial planning work completed for the Wellington Regional Growth Framework.

FDS Objectives

The FDS objectives are:

  1. Kaitiakitanga – Growth is sustainable by meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
  2. Increase housing supply, and improve housing affordability and quality, and housing and tenure choice.​
  3. Enable growth that protects and enhances the quality of the natural environment
  4. Enable growth that protects highly productive land, safe-guarding food production for future generations.
  5. Improve multi-modal access to and between housing, employment, education and services. ​
  6. Ensure development infrastructure is integrated and efficiently uses existing  built, social and community infrastructure or can be readily serviced by new infrastructure.
  7. Plan development for a zero-carbon future, creating change to rapidly reduce emissions (including emissions from transport) and meet our regional climate change objectives.
  8. Ensure development minimises the impacts of and is resilient to climate change and natural hazards to avoid creating new risks
  9. Create local sustainable employment opportunities.

FDS workshopped around the region

From late March to mid-April, five workshops were held across the Wellington-Wairarapa-Horowhenua region with councils elected members and senior staff. Workshops were held sub-regionally at: Wellington City Council and Poririua City Council, Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt, and the Wairarapa – Kapiti Coast District Council and Horowhenua District Council.

The workshops were designed to have a regional conversation about the benefits of joined up regional spatial planning, to introduce the FDS background and objectives, and to share an evaluation of four different growth scenarios for feedback. The different spatial scenarios are useful to test, to uncover the potential pros and cons of each scenario, when assessed against the strategic objectives (listed above.). Each scenario shows how the region may grow to accommodate the same 30-year population projections of 200,000 people, and 89,000 houses.

The feedback from workshops will be used to shape the preferred scenario for growth.

Workshops: What we heard 

General themes and prioriteis that surfaced at the workshops included:

  • A general support for a regional approach without losing local character
  • Support for protecting our natural environment and avoiding hazards
  • Development along public transport corridors.  More multimodal options
  • Ensuring schools and medical centres are provided for in local areas
  • Density needs to be done well
  • Affordable housing is very important
  • East-West links important
  • Planning for managed retreat

 

Mana whenua values and aspirations

A separate workshop was held with our iwi partners, to establish clear understanding of iwi values and aspirations.

A draft iwi statement has been developed by our region’s iwi, to be workshopped again before finalising.

The document includes the following vision for the future shared by mana whenua of our region:  A future for the Wellington-Wairarapa-Horowhenua region founded on Te Tiriti and realised through tino rangatiratanga.

Iwi agreed the following cornerstones for urban development in our region: self-determination, Māoritanga, Te Ao Māori, Equity and Unity.  Other focus areas addressed in the draft mana whenua statement include increased Māori representation in local and central government, collaborative ways of working, better health outcomes, food sovereignty, sustainable infrastructure, circular economy, Māori land and housing, and cultural expression.

A second iwi workshop will be held to finalise the iwi aspirations document before its release.

What’s happening next?

Upcoming FDS workshops are being held with developers, and also with infrastructure providers, to build collective understanding across all parts of the system about what is needed to ensure together we can co-create a well-functioning and thriving urban environment.

Later in this year a draft FDS will go out for public consultation.

Wellington Regional Leadership Committee

100 Cuba Street, Wellington
New Zealand

E: hello@wrlc.org.nz W: www.wrlc.org.nz