Golden Mile contract to be signed after new council voted in

Thursday, 14 August 2025

An artist's impression of the $1.2 million bus stops being planned for Wellington's Golden Mile.

The Courtenay Place contract for the Wellington City Council’s Golden Mile works is expected to be signed after a new council and mayor are elected in October.

The revelation was made at a council briefing for the project on Thursday, when transport and infrastructure manager Brad Singh told councillors the contract was expected to be signed in November.

It came after a $20 million cost blow-out was found in February, with months spent bringing the Courtenay Place design back within budget.

The council was successful in finding savings through traffic management and underground pavement design, and the final package is now back with the contractor for approval.

It comes after months of not knowing when the contract would be signed, with mayoral candidates imploring the new chief executive to hold off signing any contracts until the new mayor is elected.

The works are set to start halfway through 2026 and finish in 2029, with 2½ to three years worth of disruption with pauses during December.

Mayor Tory Whanau told The Post it would be “foolish” of any new Council to stop the contract next term after all the work that has already been done.

While she wanted the contract signed as soon as possible, it was important staff got the planning and budgeting right so there weren’t cost escalations similar to the $83m sludge plant down the track.

The entire project is forecast to cost $139m, shared evenly with NZTA, with an extra $21.9m for pipe work and $6.5m funded by Greater Wellington Regional Council for the bus shelters. The amount needed for the implementation work is $116m, while $9m is further funding that requires NZTA and council CEO sign off.

If there were cost blow-outs, it would need to come back to council for decision.

Mayor Tory Whanau said in a statement to The Post that contract negotiations for the main Courtenay Place revitalisation work were progressing, and council officers were undertaking due diligence which included ensuring the delivery method, programme, and price were robust and reflected good value for money.

“This takes time and is important to ensure such a large transformational project stays on budget. I’m looking forward to seeing a contract signed once due diligence is completed.”

Businesses would be notified in advance to help them prepare for change, with Singh saying the council had learnt from dealing with businesses during the Thorndon Quay project.