The Pōneke Promise

Visit our interactive site for the latest information on what we are doing to make our city safer.

Note: this site is best viewed on desktop or iPad.

The Pōneke Promise interactive site

About the project

We love our city. And we want everyone to feel welcome here. 

Our central city should be safe, dynamic and inviting.

Unfortunately, we have recently seen a number of incidents that have created a sense and experience that our city isn’t safe for us to enjoy a night out or walking around our inner-city neighbourhood. 

Who we are working with

In early 2021, we came together to launch the Pōneke Promise. 

This social contract is our commitment to work together in response to the community’s concerns around safety in the central city.

Wellington City Council are working with:

• Greater Wellington Regional Council
• Hospitality NZ and the City’s hospitality industry
• First Retail and the city’s retailers
• NZ Police 
• Chamber of Commerce 
• Wellington City Mission
• DCM

Our objective is to create a collaborative approach, with a set of specific, actionable initiatives to address community concerns about people feeling unsafe.

News – Social contract aims for safer city – 26.03.21

We love our city. And we want everyone to feel welcome here.

What we will deliver

We’re delivering on four main areas of focus:

• Improving public spaces
• Increasing our community spaces
• Reducing harm
• Business confidence.

We have a range of initiatives in each of these focus areas. To learn about these initiatives in more detail, visit our interactive site which allows you to explore the areas of focus and gives you an opportunity to tell us where you think we can do more.

What underpins our work

• Te Aro Park – Assessing Harm report - September 2020 (1.3MB PDF)
• The Wellington Alliance Against Sexual Violence report (307KB PDF)
• Designing for the Safety and Wellbeing of Young Women in Central Wellington report (880KB PDF)