Mass call to save Wellington's Arlington development

Monday, 10 March 2025

Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul has penned an open letter to Housing Minister Chris Bishop, calling for him to stick with the plans for a 300-house complex in Mount Cook, which was paused after foundation works began.

Join the conversation in the comments below.

A local MP, the mayor, five councillors, nine businesses, two schools and 11 other organisations have signed an open letter to Housing Minister Chris Bishop, asking him not to meddle with the original planned Arlington state home development.

And Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul, also the Green Party housing spokesperson, said the number who had signed her letter to Bishop was only expected to grow with her now leaving it open to signatories from Monday.

The letter has one request: “That the Minister supports the Arlington Kāinga Ora development to proceed with the original design and original tenure for desperately-needed public housing in Wellington City.”

Signatories to the letter, clockwise from top left, include Wellington mayor Tory Whanau, city councillors Teri O'Neill, Iona Pannett, Ben McNulty, and Nīkau Wi Neera, as well as regional councillor Thomas Nash.

The complex, including a 10-storey tower block, was demolished in 2020, with the first of 300 homes for its replacement originally scheduled for completion by 2023. Work was done on new foundations then stopped, with just their rust-coasted remains peeking from the earth behind high fences. It is now on pause.

The Ministry of Social Development at last count, in December, had 690 people in Wellington City on the waiting list for a home. Nearly all of them are high-priority. There were more than 1800 across the Wellington region.

Paul’s letter said the Government had already spent $48m on site preparation, consenting and design. The consents could lapse and investment to-date would be wasted.

The George Porter Building in Hopper St being demolished along with the Arlington Apartments in 2020.

The letter has been signed by Paul, mayor Tory Whanau, three Wellington City councillors, one Greater Wellington regional councillor, and local groups including Mount Cook School, Wellington High School, residents’ groups Mt Cook Mobilised and Newtown Residents’ Association and others. It also included nine businesses involved in the original design.

“It was really important for me to involve the businesses who had contracts for the original design and hear about the workers they had to lay off due to prolonged uncertainty,” Paul said.

The letter called for Kāinga Ora to “plug the gap” in the housing crisis and said no money was allocated for Arlington after 2026.

The letter writers understood Bishop was considering “a mixed-tenure development of public housing, private rentals and home ownership for this project” – which they urged against.

Bishop said it was actually the Labour-Greens Government that paused the build in October 2023, after tenders came back “significantly higher” than the $296m budget.

“I expect a briefing from Kāinga Ora soon, detailing the options for the site. Clearly there is a need for new housing in Wellington. I have encouraged Kāinga Ora to explore different options for use of the site, including with other developers.”

A spokesperson said the per-apartment cost went from $985,000 in 2021 to more than $1.3m in October 2023.

Paul produced a Kāinga Ora statement from November 2023 showing it was then taking “another look at costs and plans given the significant cost escalation since the project began”, but still planned “around the same number of homes”.

Comments are moderated during working hours and may not appear immediately.