Town Belt land will be taken for second Wellington tunnel, deputy mayor confirms

Monday, 17 November 2025

Deputy Mayor Ben McNulty says there are “significant” changes planned around the Basin Reserve - an area where previous proposals have faced public outrage.

Wellington will today get its first detailed look at government plans for a new highway through the city ‒ including two new tunnels and the compulsory acquisition of Town Belt land.

Deputy Mayor Ben McNulty and councillors were briefed on the plans on Friday by Waka Kotahi NZTA. While McNulty couldn’t share full details, he warned the proposals would be controversial — particularly the use of the Public Works Act to acquire Town Belt land.

“If there’s one thing Wellingtonians get heated about, it’s a transport project through the central city,” he said, predicting backlash similar to the “bypass my arse” protests of the 1990s.

He said the council had no power to stop the Government from using the Public Works Act for the project.

McNulty confirmed the second Mount Victoria Tunnel through to Kilbirnie would largely follow a route NZTA had spent decades buying up properties along in anticipation of the project.

The corridor of NZTA-owned land runs east from the southern end of Cambridge Tce, through three houses at the southern end of Brougham St, and along the northern side of Paterson St to Austin St.

The NZTA land-buy then re-emerges in Hataitai at the southern end of Moxham Ave, to some sections of Wellington Rd and Kilbirnie Cres.

McNulty said there were also “significant” changes planned around the Basin Reserve. - an area where previous proposals have faced public outrage and successful opposition, partly due to concerns about the effect it would have on the cricket ground.

However, the Government is pursuing the project under fast-track legislation which limits opportunities for public appeal.

NZTA declined to release details on Sunday but said they would be made public on Monday morning.

The Government previously announced the outline of its plan for Wellington with two new tunnels ‒ through Mount Victoria and beneath The Terrace ‒ and removing car parks from Vivian St to make it three-lanes eastbound.