Wellington City councillor calls out property-owning 'NIMBY' colleagues

Wednesday, 5 August 2020

A Wellington City councillor has accused some of her colleagues of “Nimbyism” following questions about proposed housing developments in their areas.

Councillor Rebecca Matthews raised the concerns after a councillor workshop on Tuesday, in which some elected members questioned whether the council was providing for too much housing in its 30-year spatial plan.

The plan sets out where the council proposes to accommodate an extra 74,000 people over the next few decades, with apartment buildings up to eight storeys high permitted in some suburbs.

“Seeing signs of NIMBYism from some of my property-owning colleagues,” Matthews tweeted.

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“[I’m] really keen to make changes that address supply and affordability of housing in Wellington.”

‘Nimby’ stands for ‘not in my backyard’.

The plan is in response to a forecast housing shortage in Wellington, and to new Government rules which require councils to provide an over-supply of housing development space.

Wellington City Council is expecting an extra 80,000 people to arrive by 2050.

Matthews told Stuff she was concerned with the lines of questioning from some councillors to council staff, with some asking whether the council was providing for too much housing.

Some councillors were asking only about the areas in which they owned properties, Matthews said.

She was concerned there was not enough renter representation on the council, with Matthews, Tamatha Paul, and Teri O’Neill the only councillors who did not own houses.

“What I don’t want is councillors who look to go out in their communities and rark up people with fear, because they think there’s immediately going to be six-storey developments going up on their streets.

“What the council is doing is enabling [development] – it’s not going to all happen at once.”

Matthews acknowledged more space needed to be provided for the forecast population growth, and said the council should be looking to increase that space, not reduce it.

“I want to make sure that, through the spatial plan, the council becomes part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

The draft blueprint allows for developments of up to six storeys in 15 outer suburbs, as up to 18,000 extra homes are created for an extra 42,500 people.

Buildings up to eight storeys-high will be permitted in the Johnsonville and Kilbirnie town centres.

An expanded central city would be able to accommodate a further 18,000 people, while inner-city suburbs would accommodate another 14,000.

Inner suburbs include Mt Victoria, Berhampore, Newtown, Mt Cook, Aro Valley, and Thorndon.

In the central city, which will be expanded to take in parts of Newtown and Thorndon, the plan says a six-storey minimum building height will be introduced, with developments of up to 10 storeys in Te Aro and on some central city boundaries.

Those boundaries include areas on the edge of the central city in Thorndon, Aro Valley, Mt Cook, and Mt Victoria, with a total of up to 8800 extra homes created.

In the inner-city suburbs, up to 5400 extra homes will be created, with many of the area’s 5500 pre-1930s homes losing previous protections against demolition.

Councillors will vote on the draft plan on Thursday.