The importance of the central city to both Wellington City and the region
as a whole cannot be underestimated. As an employment centre it
provides jobs for over 70,000 people (over 30% of all jobs within the
region). As a shopping centre it has the largest concentration of retail in
the region and is dominant in comparison goods, fashion and speciality
shopping. The Golden Mile is of particular importance to the City,
and is viewed by investors as Wellington’s ‘outdoor mall’. As a living
environment it now houses over 12,000 people in a range of apartments
providing a ‘city-living’ option for the region’s population. It is an
entertainment and events centre and a public transport hub, being the
terminus for the region’s rail network and the main ‘conduit’ for most
of the bus routes. As a national capital, it houses most of the major
government departments, Parliament and other national institutions.
The importance of the central city to the economic and social health of
the whole region is recognised in the Wellington Regional Strategy and
the Regional Policy Statement.
The approach is therefore to maintain and strengthen the central city,
to ensure that it retains its primacy as an employment and retail centre,
to further increase its residential population, and to strengthen its other
roles and functions. The concentration of office-based employment in
the central city, combined with the significant retail offer of the Golden
Mile, and the high quality of the public realm is critical to maintaining
the international competitiveness of Wellington and achieving
sustainable development outcomes.
Plan Change 48 has recently established a robust planning policy to
guide the future development of the central city. To support this, a non-
statutory framework is proposed to facilitate integrated development
and management on a place-based basis, encompassing both Council
activities and the activities of other stakeholders.
In addition, Plan Change 66 has introduced new provisions to allow
Council to consider and manage the effects of large integrated retail
developments proposed in the Central Area and Suburban Centres. Council
seeks to ensure that any new development enhances the sustainability
of existing retail centres (including the existing hierarchy of centres), does
not compromise the sustainability of the transport network, and does not
result in the unsustainable location of retail activities.