Why all eyes are on a council meeting in Wellington today
It's crunch time for the future of housing in Wellington today as councillors meet to vote on the District Plan. We have the full list of amendments councillors are planning to introduce.
Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Thursday, March 14, written by Anna Rawhiti-Connell.
In today’s edition: Think Big, round two; TVNZ union members push back on proposed redundancies and show cancellations; former Green MP Golriz Ghahraman pleads guilty to four charges of shoplifting; but first, the leaked list of how councillors are planning on overturning recommendations about housing in Wellington
Revealed: the attempts to overturn the IHP’s recommendation on the future of housing in the capital
Today, after six weeks of intense focus, our Wellington editor, Joel MacManus, will again undertake the epic task of live-blogging a council meeting, again. Wellington city councillors meet today to vote on the District Plan, the rulebook that will determine the future of housing in the capital city. He kicks off the live updates around 9am but has already linked to a few essential reads if you need to catch up. Before that starts, the list of amendments councillors are planning to introduce to overturn the independent hearings panel’s (IHP) recommendations have been leaked to MacManus and we’ve published those this morning. “If most or all of these amendments pass, it would represent a huge rejection of the IHP’s most controversial decisions and a major step forward for housing capacity and density in Wellington,” he writes.
Wellington house price data: ‘the apartment-filled CBD is the cheapest’
“We agree that enabling intensification does not, of itself, improve or even address affordability.” So said the IHP when its report was first released in early February. That assertion, in contravention of laws of supply and demand, has drawn the most consternation from arm chair and actual economists alike. Stu Donovan, the latter, wrote that the IHP’s view was “wildly out of step with the economic evidence,” citing Auckland’s enablement of widespread upzoning from 2013 onwards. Reporting this morning from Newshub on house price data from CoreLogic points to this variance: “Seatoun is the priciest suburb ($1.74m) while the apartment-filled CBD is the cheapest ($485k).”
Expecation that housing minister will back council if they reject the IHP recommendations
Minister for housing and infrastructure, Chris Bishop, told Cabinet two weeks ago that a plan to fix the housing crisis will be delivered in the first quarter of this year. Bishop has said he wants a target set for house price affordability and while councils will have more discretion about where they have density, “they’re going to have more housing. It’s as simple as that.” National backed out the bipartisan Medium Density Residential Standards legislation before the election, allowing councils to opt out of it. Bishop has hinted he will back Wellington city council if it chose to reject the IHP’s recommendations.
The tension between government control and promises of local decision-making
There is a sense that the government is trying to have it’s cake and eat it too here, advocating for devolution and decentralisation while also issuing what sound like firm instructions and running at pace to get things done. Former Labour leader David Cunliffe, now running a consulting firm, and his colleague Kieran Brown, write that “There is tension between policies that promise increased central Cabinet control, pace and discipline on one hand - and increased local decision-making on the other.” Bishop is already on a collision cause with Auckland mayor Wayne Brown who is annoyed about a delay on a request for a one-year extension to notify changes on new intensification rules. Brown wrote to the minister two weeks ago saying “I support your goal of enabling more housing... [but] forcing us to continue with the current prescriptive process would be completely at odds with that.”
How big data and AI are transforming out of home – and advertising
Listen to host Duncan Greive chat with David Owen, Research and Insights director at nationwide out of home agency oOh!media and Tori Colebourne, CMO at Black Pearl Group, about the role of data in media and communications decision-making in 2024 and beyond. Click here to listen now.
Think Big, round two
Following on from yesterday’s lead about fast-track consenting, Thomas Manch has a good read in The Post this morning on what some are calling the return of Sir Robert Muldoon and Think Big. Former Green party co-leader James Shaw summoned the spectre of the former National party PM in the House last week, saying his ghost had inhabited the “mind and body of Shane Jones”. Politik’s Richard Harman (paywalled) called the new fast-track legislation “more draconian than Sir Robert Muldoon’s 1979 legislation”. Manch calls the combination of the new legislation and the ministerial “triumvirate” of Chris Bishop, Simeon Brown and Jones “an extraordinary concentration of power at the Cabinet table.” Manch’s piece also has some great detail about his attempts to speak with former Labour PM Sir Geoffrey Palmer about the warning the parallels may hold.
‘We don’t understand how they can cut shows that continue to be a commercial success’
TVNZ union members have pushed back on the state broadcasters’s proposal to cut 68 jobs and call time on shows like Sunday and Fair Go. Repped by former Labour minister Michael Wood, who is now at the union, E tū, staff say their expertise is being ignored, and that will lead to a flawed process. The union has written to TVNZ, saying staff have ideas that have real merit and are seeking a collaborative approach to the change process. Wood says staff don’t understand why shows that are commercially successful are up for the chop. TVNZ says they will respond to the letter in due course and are continuing to work with the union, but had no further comment to provide as of last night.
Māori development minister Tama Potaka also issued a call yesterday saying he backed Māori media to thrive but that Māori needed to think outside of the box when it comes to funding.
We are asking for your help to continue our coverage of Wellington
The War for Wellington has been a six-week editorial project for The Spinoff focused on the city’s District Plan and the chance to rewrite the rulebook on housing. Every single one of the 32 stories to date from myself and our contributors has been free for all to read. Many have involved hours pouring over hundreds of pages of dense documentation. We are incredibly grateful to Spinoff Members for enabling this work; thank you. Throughout today, I will live-blog the meeting that could change the future of housing in Wellington. This week, we end this project but remain dedicated to continuing our coverage of Wellington. To do so, we are asking for reader help. Please, if you are able to support The Spinoff, donate or become a member today.
Joel MacManus
Wellington editor
Click and Collect
Former Green MP Golriz Ghahraman pleads guilty to four charges of shoplifting, raising questions about future career in the law.
The government has agreed to give Ruapehu Alpine Lifts one last bailout to the tune of $7m
Food price inflation was 2.1% for the year to February. That’s the lowest it’s been in almost three years.
The Labour caucus will meet today for its later-than-usual retreat.
In unsurprising news, Donald Trump and Joe Biden have both passed the delegate thresholds to claim their parties' nominations for the US presidential race.
US news sites have now moved onto other breaking new: the US Congress has passed law that could see TikTok banned in the US
Feeling clever? Click here to play 1Q, Aotearoa’s newest, shortest daily quiz.
Eda Tang looks into suspicion in the education sector that students are still being graded on a bell curve. Writers Olive Nuttall and Sylvan Spring discuss their books, special interests and the trans experience. Claire Mabey reports on the closure of another bookstore in Wellington and considers what we’re losing. Miriam Moore argues that a city designed to consider the needs of women is a city designed for everyone. Stewart Sowman-Lund reports on the 'baffling' move to slim down TVNZ's Re: News.
Sporting snippets
Canoe slalom paddler Luuka Jones joins an elite group of New Zealand athletes with her selection to compete at her fifth Olympics. Jones will compete in a brand new sport being introduced at the Olympics, the kayak cross, which sounds ideal for strong but angry adrenaline junkies looking for their “sport I may yet be very good at” as it allows contact. This video gives you a sample of the action.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.
If you liked what you read today, share The Bulletin with friends, family and colleagues.