P O Box 10183
Wellington
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Consultation for Annual Plan 2016/1718 April 2016
Greater Wellington Regional Council
WELLINGTON
Attention: Chris Laidlaw
SUBMISSION ON REGION’S ANNUAL PLAN
CITY’S NORTHERN GATEWAY: LANDSCAPING AT KAIWHARAWHARA
The Wellington Civic Trust wishes this year’s comment to focus on just one project: the comprehensive landscaping of the Kaiwharawhara reclamation.
GWRC-owned CentrePort’s announced plans to level and seal the top of the reclamation presents a unique opportunity to achieve much broader objectives of city-wide importance.
Since its inception in 1981 the Civic Trust has highlighted the redevelopment potential of the city’s Northern Gateway. Land occupied by the port and the railyards can be seen as space enabling the city to expand northward, achieving more efficient land use. At the same time the appearance of that part of the city could be vastly improved and the opportunity taken to improve public amenity benefits.
The reclamation is comparatively small in area but highly visible and a distinctive feature for those arriving into the city from the north. It is also a prominent landmark for those living on the slopes of the harbour’s western hills. Near its southern and northern boundaries are two highly valued water features. The estuary of the Kaiwharawhara Stream and the beach to the north both offer great potential for public enjoyment. The Wellington City Council has informed us that it proposes to bring together its 2016/176 funding for its various projects in this Gateway area.
The people of Wellington as well as visitors travelling by the inter-island ferries will be greatly advantaged by these two features being accessible and landscaped to a high standard.
Now is the appropriate time for GWRC to take on a leadership role, as the dominant public sector agency among the many involved in this area - WCC, NZTA, KiwiRail, and DoC.
High quality long-term landscaping will increase the versatility of the site for alternative uses. Should there eventuate a land swap between CentrePort and KiwiRail, the reclamation could become the site for a new ferry terminal. With vision, that would be surrounded by established plantings of indigenous coastal shrubs and trees as well as giving access to the estuary and the beach.
Comprehensive landscaping incorporating secure public access to the estuary and the beach would also demonstrate that commercial initiatives need not create crude and unattractive landscapes and that with intelligence and far-sightedness the seemingly incompatible can be reconciled.
Public access will require the co-operation of a number of parties. The most important is the New Zealand Transport Agency. It has title to the land on the western edge of the reclamation beside the motorway. That strip would provide the space for a fence-lined pathway to the beach. This pathway would be incorporated in the overall landscape plan and be safely connected to adjacent KiwiRail or CentrePort land to the south of the reclamation. The Department of Conservation would need to be consulted on the planting and landscaping of the beach and the coastal strip.
From the number of parties involved it is evident that the Regional Council is ideally suited to provide the leadership and encouragement required. The GWRC has the requisite city-wide and regional long-term perspectives.
As to the funding needed to achieve a comprehensive long-term landscape plan, one approach could be to set aside a significant sum, about $3 million say, from the annual dividend paid by CentrePort. This approach would avoid distorting other expenditure budgets. It would also divert revenues from the port to enhancing the appearance of the port, and demonstrate its contribution to creating public amenities.
The Civic Trust would like to meet with the appropriate persons to explore the best way to realise what is a unique, perhaps once-only, opportunity. We are hopeful that you and your fellow-Councillors will be inspired to give this groundbreaking proposition the resources and enthusiasm that it so clearly deserves.
We are confident that when the broadened reclamation project comes to fruition it will be recognized by locals and visitors alike that they are enjoying an extraordinary facility worthy of a major port in a Capital City.
The Wellington Civic Trust would like to be heard in respect of this submission if oral hearings are envisaged. In that respect, future contact should be with Trustee Sylvia Allan; phone 021 665 155 or
Yours sincerely,
Toni Izzard
Chair
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