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Wellington City Council has announced it is focusing on the city’s resilience, economy, housing, transport and a decade of culture for its Long-Term Plan 2018-28.
The council said it chose a course of growth with the aim of future-proofing the city for the next 50 years, while also bringing forward work on sewage sludge growth and flood protection.
The city has consents for landfill sewage sludge until 2026 but the council has agreed to bring forward to 2021 spending $1 million on planning and designing ways to deal with the predicted population-driven growth in sewage sludge. It will look at technologies to reduce the volume and lower the environmental impact before consents are renewed. It will also bring forward $10 million of flood reduction work in Tawa by three years, as well as getting ready to take advantage of any pro-cycling moves by the government.
“Our 10-Year plan is a vision based on resilience and our natural environment, affordable housing, a modern transport network, being New Zealand’s cultural capital and a sustainable local economy,” Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said. “We want our city to thrive, but at the same time build its ability to rebound following any disaster.
“We live in an active fault zone and climate change will only exacerbate the extreme weather we face,” he added.
The mayor said the sewage sludge and flooding works may not be headline-grabbers, but they are necessary for the city to build on a sound base.
Other plans include investing $2.31 billion in capital projects to ensure Wellington remains safe, inclusive, creative, sustainable and future focused; a further spend of $280 million to improve key transport corridors, wastewater and water infrastructure; and a $118.5 million budget for protecting the water supply across the city so that everyone can be within one kilometre of a water source following a quake.
