Kia ora koutou. In this month’s pānui | eNews:

  • WRLC Complex Development Opportunities – Update
  • Upcoming Thought Leader Webinars
  • IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report 2023 – Climate Change
  • Webinar recording: Systems thinking for Collaborative Impact, Rob Cousins

Complex Development Opportunities – Update

Projects are classified as a Complex Development Opportunity (CDO) when they are identified as having the potential to significantly deliver on WRLC’s objectives relating to housing, transport and the economy, and require a range of partners to work together to deliver results.

CDO’s also exist in all Aotearoa’s other urban growth partnerships.

The seven agreed WRLC CDOs were selected because they provide a focus on achieving pace and scale to unlock housing and create more connected communiites. These are all areas that require intervention.

The Minister of Housing recently announced Round Two of the Affordable Rental Pathway. An additional $100 million grant funding is available to not-for-profit organisations to deliver newly built affordable rental housing. Not-for-profits include community housing providers, Iwi and Māori organisations, councils, and charitable trusts.

Eligibility now extends to developments across Aotearoa, prioritising funding in areas of greatest need for affordable rentals such as places experiencing severe rental stress, population growth and overcrowding.

Organisations Registration of Interest are due between 27 February to 27 March 2023.

This aligns to Objective #1 in the Wellington Regional Growth Framework, to increase housing supply, and improve housing affordability and choice.

Featherston Master Plan CDO

The Featherston Master Plan is a plan to enable transit-oriented growth around the train station, together with achieving a well-functioning urban environment that meets the needs of a diverse population, setting the region up for the future.

Let's Get Wellington Moving CDO

This is the largest CDO in the WRLC CDO programme. Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) is a significant programme managed by Waka Kotahi in partnership with Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington, designed to work with the people of Wellington to improve our transport and create a more liveable city.

Ōtaki CDO

Ōtaki is a key northern centre, with a rich Māori history. This plan will honour that heritage, address current and future housing needs for residents and mana whenua, and provide a plan for necessary infrastructure, services and facilities to support the needs of the current and future population.

Waterloo TOD CDO

The need to address significant infrastructure issues, and make better use of prime land, is an ideal opportunity for this CDO, to prioritise Waterloo Redevelopment from a Transit-Oriented Design perspective.

Lower Hutt Central CDO

The Lower Hutt Central CDO is a plan to recommend a direction and vision for the city’s development to ensure its livability for the community, underpinned by principles to integrate projects on micro mobility, infrastructure, and flood protection.

Northern Growth Area CDO

This CDO is a plan to address housing supply challenges, developing 6,000 new dwellings over 20 years. It is connected via Kapiti rapid transit rail service to Wellington via Porirua, with access via SH59 to Porirua CBD, and SH1.

Trentham Racecourse CDO

Trentham Racecourse will be upgraded, with a significant development bringing 850 new dwellings, retail, a hotel, conference and racing facilities. The housing development will be beside Trentham Train Station.

Upcoming Thought Leader Webinars

Forget Silos, Think Jigsaws - Ian Leader

11:00am, 6th April

Building Resilient Communities with Reciprocity and Mutual Benefit

In this webinar, Ian will draw upon his 25+ years in the world of social responsibility, local economic development and relationship brokerage to explore the construct of communities as jigsaws. And because theoretical musings don’t always deliver real change, he’ll also introduce some practical tools and tactics for operating in a jigsaw.

Register here

Sustainable Transport: Equity, Ecological Overshoot, and solutions

1:00pm, 19th April

Bridget will speak to how the transport sector can help in planning for a thriving future, and address these questions:

  • What’s the goal of transport investment?
  • What is the transport sector doing that needs to stop?
  • What new measures and processes should we focus on?
  • How do we retrofit good design, and plan new communities? Insights into planning for growth in Greater Wellington while reducing VKT

Register here

Systems thinking for Collaborative Impact - webinar recording

This webinar was held on February 28th, and the recording is now available to watch.

In his talk, Rob Cousins, Innovation Manager at WorkSafe, discussed the following questions:

  • How do you ensure that individual businesses contribute to a bigger improvement or change?
  • What happens when you forget about system leadership and see everybody as part of creating how the system functions?
  • How do you make that make sense to somebody who’s got a very hands-on job at the sharp end?
  • What do you hold onto and what do you step away from in your work, what risks does this create, and how do you manage those?

Talk: 20min, Q&A: 30min


AR6 Synthesis Report Climate Change 2023 – Urgent Action Needed

The latest science on the state of our climate has been laid out in a powerful new report by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The Sixth Assessment Report shows how climate change is altering our planet and highlights the many solutions that governments, businesses, cities and individuals can, and must, take to tackle it.

The warning – current pace and scale of climate action are insufficient to tackle climate change. The hope – There are multiple, feasible and effective options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to human-caused climate change, and they are available now.

“Mainstreaming effective and equitable climate action will not only reduce losses and damages for nature and people, it also provide wider co-benefits,” said IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee. “This Synthesis Report underscores the urgency of taking more ambitious action and shows that, if we act now, we can still secure a liveable sustainable future for all.”

The official IPCC press release states:

“Changes in the food sector, electricity, transport, industry, buildings and land-use can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, they can make it easier for people to lead low-carbon lifestyles, which will also improve health and wellbeing. A better understanding of the consequences of overconsumption can help people make more informed choices.
“Transformational changes are more likely to succeed where there is trust, where everyone works together to prioritise risk reduction, and where benefits and burdens are shared equitably,” Says IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee.
“We live in a diverse world in which everyone has different responsibilities and different
opportunities to bring about change. Some can do a lot while others will need support to help them manage the change.”

Your thoughts and feedback on WRLC

We’d love to hear your thoughts on which topics, content or events you’d like to see more of, that would best support your work, or that you’re most curious about. Please share your thoughts or any other feedback – via this link.

About the Wellington Regional Leadership Committee

WRLC is a joint regional partnership which brings together Iwi leaders, Mayors, Ministers of Government, and an independent chair, to work collaboratively on cross-boundary, growth-related challenges in the Wellington-Wairarapa-Horowhenua region.

WRLC exists to find better ways of working together to ensure that our region continues to be a place where people want to live, work and thrive.

Our projects cover five broad key areas that are integral to our shared growth-related cross-boundary challenges. These five areas are iwi capacity, housing, climate, transport and economic development and recovery. Read more about our work on our project page, and if you’re interested in collaborating, sharing information and finding alignment – get in touch at hello@wrlc.org.nz.

Wellington Regional Leadership Committee

100 Cuba Street, Wellington
New Zealand

E: hello@wrlc.org.nz W: www.wrlc.org.nz