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Environmental Strategy
Protecting and enhancing our natural environment
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Context
3. Long-term direction
4. Three-year priorities
5. Strategy tree
Wellington City Council
July 2006
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1. Introduction
This Environmental Strategy is about protecting and enhancing our natural environment. It provides
a high-level statement of the Council’s long-term environmental intentions for Wellington, as well as
shorter-term priority areas for action.
Wellington’s natural environment is composed of many elements, such as air, climate, water, land,
soil and minerals, and plant and animal life. These elements support the social, economic, and
cultural well-being of the city by providing visitors, residents and businesses with a range of
resources, opportunities and benefits. Wellington also depends on the natural environment of other
places in New Zealand and the rest of the world to provide some resources that are not generated
locally.
All of these elements of the natural environment are under pressure in one way or another through
the effects of human activity. Without careful planning and strategic action, the long-term health of
Wellington’s natural environment is likely to suffer.
The Council already plays important roles in environmental protection and enhancement, along with
other agencies such as Greater Wellington, the Ministry for the Environment, the Department of
Conservation, and various non-governmental organisations. It has certain statutory responsibilities
and a range of other activities that it performs to achieve its desired outcomes. The Environmental
Strategy is designed to clarify and confirm Council’s roles regarding the natural environment in the
long-term and in the short-term.
The Environmental Strategy is based on the premise of sustainable development—that is, meeting
the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their needs. This requires a long-term, future-focussed approach and recognition of the linkages
between environmental, economic, social and cultural well-being. Council’s sustainable
development approach is described in its Sustainable Development Strategy, adopted in December
2003.
Just as the four well-beings are inter-related, so are the various elements of the natural
environment. For example, use of water, energy, soil, land and other inputs affects waste
generation, which in turn affects the quality of the receiving water, soil, land or air.
The intention of the Environmental Strategy is to recognise these inter-relationships and provide a
holistic approach to the management of Wellington’s natural environment. This means using the
financial and human resources generated by growth to promote the environmental wellbeing that
underpins that growth, and tending to all phases of the resource cycle from creation and extraction
to use and disposal.
With this long-term, sustainable approach and key priority actions, the Council can help protect and
enhance the natural environment so that it will endure and provide benefits for current residents and
future generations
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2. Context
Existing framework
Other supporting documents:
• District Plan
• Bylaws
• Code of Practice for Land Development
Environmental
Strategy
Solid and Liquid
Waste
Management
Plans
Water
Conservation
Strategies
Capital Spaces
Biodiversity
Plan
(nonexistent)
Energy Plan
(nonexistent)
• Open Space
Access Plan
• Mgmt Plans for
Town Belt, Outer
Green Belt, South
Coast, other
reserves
• Pest Mgmt Plan
• Bush & Streams
Restoration Plan
• Zoo SOI
• Closed Landfills
Policy
• Operational
Landfills AMP
• Sewerage AMP
• Stormwater AMP
• Water AMP
• Capacity SOI
Sustainable Development Framework
guides all Strategies (Environmental,
Economic, Social, Cultural, etc.)
The context
In managing the city the Council must take account of issues affecting several dimensions of our
natural systems and environment, including:
• biodiversity and ecosystems
• open space
• landscape
• water supply
• solid and liquid waste management
• energy and climate
Specific current and potentially long-term threats and challenges to the city’s natural systems and
environments include:
• Climate change
• Energy shortages
• Invasive animal and plant pests
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• Disturbance of ecosystems
• Poor water quality in streams
• Potentially harmful trade wastes
• Persistent waste generation and decreasing landfill lifespan
• Potential regional water shortages
• Negative effects of development on significant landscapes
The Council currently has a range of environment plans and policies that attempt to address these
threats, including an open space plan (Capital Spaces), solid and liquid waste management plans,
and water conservation strategies. However, the Council lacks an overarching environmental
strategy that could explain how the various elements of the natural environment and Council’s
activities inter-relate, and what the priorities are. In particular, the Council has policy gaps in the
areas of biodiversity and energy management.
The challenge
In order to actively mitigate current and potential global, national, regional and local environmental
threats and challenges, the Council has to move one step further towards integrated environmental
decision-making and management.
The solution
An environmental strategy that protects and enhances the natural environment
to provide residents, businesses and visitors with a range of resources,
opportunities and benefits
In recognition of the fact that sustainable growth depends on the wellbeing of the natural
environment, Wellington should use the financial and human resources generated by growth to
promote environmental wellbeing.
This means tending to all phases of the resource cycle:
• protecting sensitive natural areas and resources from disturbance
• reducing our resource use and relying more on renewable energy sources
• minimising the impact of our resource use, including development, on landscapes and
ecosystems
• disposing of waste products in a way that protects the natural environment that provided the
initial resources
• providing quality, accessible open spaces to protect and engage with the natural environment.
The pre-conditions
The successful realisation of this strategy will require:
• increased partnership within the city and the region, to share information and collaborative
solutions
• data collection and monitoring to improve understanding of the health of our natural
environment
• a meaningful shift in judging progress as sustainable development (measured by the Genuine
Progress Indicator--GPI) rather than only economic expansion (Gross Domestic Product--GDP)
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3. Long-term direction for the environment
Environmental Strategy 2006-16
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Our long-term outcomes
Our overall goal is to protect and enhance the city’s natural environment. This means ensuring that
natural resources ― air, water, land, and plant and animal life ― are managed sustainably, in ways
that don’t compromise the well-being of current residents or future generations. And it means
nurturing the natural environment so it can continue to attract people to the city and provide
opportunities for recreation and enjoyment.
Over the next 10 years, we aspire to the following outcomes:
4.1 More liveable: Wellington’s natural environment will be accessible to all, for a wide range of
social and recreational opportunities that do not compromise environmental values.
Much of Wellington’s natural environment allows public access for a variety of uses. As owner
and/or manager of many open spaces, the Council must balance competing demands for their use
so that human activities are allowed without compromising their environmental values. Protecting
the natural environment, while making it accessible, will mean:
• providing opportunities for active and passive recreation
• actively managing open space ecosystems and public amenities
• balancing various uses of public open spaces.
4.2 Stronger sense of place: Wellington will recognise and protect significant features of its
coastal and terrestrial landscape and natural heritage.
Wellington is known for its impressive sense of place that features the harbour and hills prominently
in a dramatic coastal setting. The vegetation of Wellington, including street trees and private
gardens, is an important element as well. Recognising and protecting landscape and natural
heritage will mean:
• identifying those elements of the landscape that most favourably contribute to natural functions
and Wellington’s sense of place
• using the Council’s influence as a land owner and its powers as a land use regulator to protect
significant features of the landscape and natural heritage.
4.3 More actively engaged: Wellington will pursue a collaborative, participatory approach towards
environmental kaitiakitanga (guardianship), by sharing information within the community and
establishing partnerships to achieve environmental goals.
Wellington’s natural environment can benefit from the combined strength of community groups, iwi,
businesses, households, academic/research institutions, and local and central government
agencies. While the roles of some organisations are defined by statute, there is still great potential
for collaborative leadership in environmental matters. Promoting a more actively engaged city will
mean:
• information sharing among agencies and across the community
• the Council leading by example through development and management of publicly-owned land,
buildings and infrastructure
• collaborative decision-making
• community participation in decision-making and achievement of goals.
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4.4 Better connected: Wellington will have a network of green spaces and corridors linking the
coastline, Town Belt and Outer Green Belt.
The green open space network is important for ecological, social and non-motorised transportation
connections through the city. The Council owns and/or manages much of the publicly accessible
open space in the city and therefore has great influence over this valuable network. Providing a
green open space network will mean:
• owning and managing local parks, including small urban parks, as well as larger open spaces
like those in the Town Belt, Outer Green Belt, Botanic Gardens, and coastal areas
• facilitating and managing public access to privately owned open spaces throughout the city
• developing and maintaining walkways and trails
• monitoring and enhancing the ecological function of the green open space network.
4.5 More sustainable: Wellington will reduce its environmental impact by making efficient use of
energy, water, land and other resources; shifting towards renewable energy resources; conserving
resources; and minimising waste.
Without efficient use of scarce resources and/or increased use of renewable resources, Wellington
faces several risks, including: running out of these inputs to its economy; creating more harmful
emissions leading to poor local air quality and to climate change; and generating more solid waste
which requires costly landfill expansion. Reduction, re-use, recovery, and recycling can help
mitigate these risks and create economic opportunities based on waste reduction instead of waste
generation. Sustainable resource use will mean:
• monitoring and managing Council’s own resource use
• promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy development through the Council’s role as
facilitator and as land use regulator
• using the Council’s control of the water supply system to promote water conservation through
appropriate technology such as water meters and rainwater tanks
• promoting greywater re-use, water-saving toilets and rainwater re-use
• gathering more extensive data on waste sources, destinations and composition
• continuing kerbside recycling and encouraging greater re-use, recycling and recovery in the
wider community, including businesses
• continuing to implement ‘polluter-pays’ charges to provide incentives for waste reduction and to
fund mitigation efforts
• greater regional collaboration on appropriate matters such as pricing and data collection.
4.6 Safer: Wellington will have access to safe and reliable energy and water supplies, clean air,
and waste disposal systems that protect public health and ecosystems.
Safe and reliable supplies of energy, water and air are the foundations of a healthy and prosperous
city. Wellington needs to provide or facilitate these key inputs, including mitigating the negative
effects of waste generation on these resources, the public and ecosystems. Reliable supply and
safer disposal will mean:
• continued access to quality water supply
• sustainable stormwater management practices to prevent flooding
• greater protection of receiving waters from polluted stormwater
• high-quality treatment of sewage and innovative use of biosolids to protect the marine and
terrestrial environment
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• continued management of solid waste collections and landfills to protect public health and
ecosystems.
4.7 Healthier: Wellington will protect and restore its land- and water-based ecosystems to sustain
their natural processes, and to provide habitats for a range of indigenous and non-indigenous plants
and animals.
Biodiversity is important because it represents the complex interplay of biological and physical
elements that supports a thriving environment ― one that produces the natural resources we use
and the natural amenities we experience, view and value. Biodiversity is also a potentially valuable
source of genetic material for future medical and technological advances. Beyond its material use to
humans, biodiversity and ecosystems have intrinsic value. Protecting ecosystems and biodiversity
will mean:
• providing natural habitat for a range of species
• controlling animal pests and invasive pest plants
• planting appropriate species and proactively managing the transition of some areas from exotic
to indigenous vegetation
4.8 More competitive: Wellington’s high-quality natural environment will attract visitors, residents
and businesses.
Wellington has a competitive advantage in the quality of the natural environment that it offers
tourists, potential residents, and potential businesses. This advantage is based not on resource
extraction, but on the ample opportunities for appreciating and engaging with the natural
environment while preserving it for future generations.
High-profile, public facilities that support the eco-tourism industry are particularly important in
attracting short-term visitors. Additionally, many other Council activities such as parks and gardens,
walkways, and sewage treatment contribute to Wellington’s quality natural environment. These
basic environmental services, as well as valued amenities like the open space network, are
particularly important in attracting and retaining residents and businesses.
Fostering the competitive advantage offered by Wellington’s superior and accessible natural
environment will mean:
• showcasing biodiversity at public facilities
• marketing Wellington’s natural environment to tourists, potential residents, and potential
businesses
• continuing to provide an accessible open space network
• continuing to provide the other environmental services that make Wellington’s natural
environment special.
How we will measure our progress towards these outcomes
To assess whether Wellington is becoming more liveable, we’ll measure the number of hectares of
open space land we own or maintain per capita. We’ll also monitor resident usage of the city’s open
spaces (including parks, Town Belt, reserves etc).
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To assess whether Wellington is developing a stronger sense of place, we’ll survey residents to
find out what percentage think the city’s natural environment is appropriately managed and
protected.
To assess whether the city’s residents and communities are becoming more actively engaged in
guardianship of the environment, we’ll survey residents to find out what action they’re taking to
reduce waste from their homes (eg by recycling or composting), and what steps they’re taking to
reduce pollution of the stormwater network. We’ll also measure the number of hours worked by
recognised environmental volunteer groups.
To assess whether the city’s green spaces are becoming better connected, we’ll keep a record of
the number of kilometres of tracks we maintain throughout the city.
To judge whether the city is becoming more sustainable, we’ll monitor trends in the total amount of
waste going to the city’s landfill per capita, total water use per capita, total energy use per capita,
and total recyclable material Council staff divert from the landfill per capita. We’ll also measure the
city’s ecological footprint.
To judge whether the city is providing a safer environment for residents, we’ll monitor trends in air
quality (measured in particulate matter), and number of energy supply interruptions.
To judge whether the city’s environment is getting healthier, we’ll monitor trends in: the number of
macroinvertebrates in city streams; water quality; native bird populations; and native vegetation in
reserve areas.
To judge whether the city’s natural environment is making it more competitive by attracting
visitors, residents and businesses, we’ll monitor trends in the number of visitors to key
environmental attractions (including Wellington Zoo, Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, Wellington Botanic
Garden and Otari Wilton’s Bush).
4. Our three-year priorities
For the period 2006-09, we’ve identified the following four priorities for our contribution to the city’s
environmental well-being. These priorities are important stepping stones towards our long-term
goals.
• We will increase our promotion of water and energy efficiency and conservation, energy
security, and the use of renewable energy sources, and we will take a more active leadership
role in these areas.
• We will increase our efforts to improve the protection of streams.
• We will develop a coherent plan to address biodiversity issues, including removing and
replacing hazardous trees.
• We will strengthen our partnerships with stakeholders to increase environmental awareness,
community participation, and the achievement of environmental goals.
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How we plan to achieve these priorities
We already play a major role in protecting the environment from the negative effects of human
activity, by looking after the city’s sewage and stormwater networks, and rubbish and recycling
operations, as well as encouraging waste minimisation. These tasks, along with water supply, keep
the city liveable. They are among our biggest areas of operation.
We also look after the city’s open space areas ― beaches and coastline, Town Belt, Outer Green
Belt, and parks and reserves. And we work with a wide range of organisations, from volunteer
groups to major nature-based attractions, to enhance the city’s natural environment and ensure the
city offers a wide range of nature-based attractions.
Over the next three years, we’re planning several new initiatives to protect and enhance
Wellington’s environment. We’ll be taking steps to encourage water conservation and to promote
energy efficiency, both within our own operations and throughout the city. This will include
development of sustainable building guidelines aimed at encouraging greater energy efficiency and
other sustainable features in building projects.
From 2006/07, we’re increasing the amount of funding available in our environment grants pool to
support community groups and volunteers who do work that benefits the city’s environment, and
we’ll be increasing our support for community planting initiatives. We’re also supporting the
Enviroschools programme to raise Wellington school students’ awareness of and involvement in
environmental issues.
We’ll be working with others to protect and enhance the city’s streams, by completing our
restoration of the Kaiwharawhara Stream and starting restoration of the Porirua and Owhiro
streams, as well as reviewing the use of regulatory tools.
And we’ll be developing a Biodiversity Action Plan to ensure that we’re protecting the city’s
biodiversity as effectively and strategically as we can. The plan will consider current biodiversity
work (such as stream protection, weed/pest control, and management of reserves), what the
priorities are, and whether there are any gaps that need to be addressed. A draft will be completed
in 2006/07 with implementation to begin the following year.
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5. Strategy Tree – Environment