Mahuru | September 2024
Kia ora koutou, and welcome to our September pānui | eNews for 2024
Spring has sprung and as we enter a new season, the work of WRLC is also. Going forward we have a renewed focus on delivery, as we continue to drive collaboration toward our vision of a region where we can all live, work and thrive.
This month’s eNews features:
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WRLC Annual Report 2023/24 newly released
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REDP Refresh – Regional Economic Plan Identifies ‘Pockets of Growth’
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REDP Implementation Update – get involved!
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Priority Development Areas – Update
Upcoming Events + Webinars
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WRLC Webinar: Recipe for a Thriving Region – Kate Sutton, Deloitte
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UDINZ Lunchtime Session: Revitalising Poneke’s Civic Heart
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Free Webinar: How to talk about Community Planning & Climate Disruption with The Workshop
WRLC Annual Report 2023/24 Published
Our third and latest Annual Report covering the period July 2023 to June 2024, is now available. The Report starts with an introduction from WRLC Co-Chairs Daren Ponter and Darrin Apanui. They also highlight our key achievements of the last 12 months, along with their vision for our future. This report includes project summaries and milestones, lessons-learned and highlights, and our high-level focus on delivery going forward. This Annual Report will be presented at the October WRLC meeting for formal sign-off.
Year Three has seen the completion of four key projects: the Future Development Strategy, the Wellington Regional Climate Change Impacts Assessment, The Regional Emissions Reduction Plan, and the Wellington Food System Plan. Our seven Priority Development Areas (PDAs) continue to focus on accelerating the delivery of our housing and growth needs, and our communications and engagement highlights show a consistent upward trend of growing diverse stakeholder engagement and partner collaboration – putting us in a good position to launch into 2025.
REDP Refresh – Wellington regional economic plan identifies ‘pockets of growth’
“Work to bolster the number of jobs and economic opportunities in the Wellington region is starting to pay off”, says WellingtonNZ Business and Innovation general manager Stu Taylor.
Analysis of the first full year of the Wellington Regional Economic Development Plan shows job growth in some sectors, new spending and successful initiatives to identify and develop opportunities.
The Wellington Regional Economic Development Plan was launched in 2022 by WellingtonNZ, the region’s economic development agency. It guides the long-term direction of the regional economy and includes a set of initiatives focusing on four sectors: screen and gaming, science and technology, food and fibre and tourism.
The plan identifies priorities for growth agreed by the Wellington Regional Leadership Committee.
“The region has been hit hard this year by the state of the global economy and job cutbacks. However, what we can see is that the initiatives in the REDP are producing pockets of growth and innovation that are creating jobs for our growing population.”
Regional Economic Development Plan Implementation Update
Above: CreativeHQ’s latest Screen Accelerator Project Cohort
WellingtonNZ’s latest implementation update of the Regional Economic Development Plan features exciting opportunities to share with your networks, in the tech, STEM and startup space:
Upcoming initiatives and events within the REDP focus sectors include:
- Applications for the Creative HQ 2024 Impact Mini Accelerator close on 30 September. This accelerator is designed for early-stage Wellington-based founders and begins on 17 October.
- Applications for the Screen Accelerator Project 2024 close on 1 October. The programme offers producers at any stage of their career the opportunity to develop their unscripted TV series ideas under the guidance of Emmy-award winning producer Jon Kroll.
- Summer of Tech and Engineering are looking for more summer internship roles for ICT, digital design, and engineering students. Contact the team as soon as possible if you have a role available.
- As part of the Wairarapa dark skies development initiative and Carterton Space week, an Aerospace Business Connect Expo will be held on 7 October and an Aerospace Education Expo on 9 October. Download the full programme and register here.
- The technology leadership training series continues, with the next Growth Jam event scheduled for 24 October. Founders and strategic marketing leaders will share how their businesses select which markets to focus on first, how they launched, what worked, what hasn’t and what they learnt in the process. Register here.
- Through the Capital Summit initiative, Blackbird Ventures is bringing Sunrise to Wellington for the first time ever on 26 November. Sunrise is a festival of creativity, technology and ambition, where the startup community come together, and unexpected ideas collide. Secure your ticket online here.
WRLC Webinar: Recipe for a Thriving Region
10:30-11:45am, Tuesday 8th October 2024
Presenter: Kate Sutton, Director – Future of Auckland Lead, Deloitte
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What can the Wellington region learn from the recent, “State of the City’ report, which benchmarks Tamaki Makarau Auckland’s international performance?
- How does the world perceive us?
- How are we tracking compared to peers internationally?
- What do we need to prioritise, invest in to make our city and region truly desirable for people and families to choose to live and work here?
The report is based on more than 120 global city benchmark studies, which together span more than 750 comparative metrics in which Auckland features, commissioned by the Committee for Auckland, Deloitte, and Tataki Auckland Unlimited, with support from Koi Tu: the Centre for Informed Futures and the New Zealand Government’s Auckland Policy Office.
In this presentation, Kate Sutton, Deloitte Director and Future of Auckland Lead, will discuss the recent, “State of the City” Report, sharing insights on methods to achieve the type of partnerships that will guide our region toward a more thriving future. Kate will discuss the five core ‘pillars’ that reflect on cities’ short and long term trends: opportunity and prosperity, innovation and knowledge, culture and experience, place and connectivity, and resilience and sustainability.
Industry News + Events
Revitalising Poneke’s Civic Heart – UDINZ
UDINZ is hosting a lunch time event on October 17th 11:45am, with Anna Calver and Farzad Zamani from WCC presenting on work to date on the redevelopment of the Te Ngākau Precinct and how the redevelopment of this iconic civic space is hoped to generate long lasting benefits and opportunities for the community – a once in a lifetime opportunity to reimagine Wellington’s civic heart.
Understanding this development and the transformative impact it could have will be of interest to all of those who want to see Wellington thrive, but particularly consultants, landowners and those considering investment opportunities in and around the Central city because of the amenity the area could offer for residents and visitors alike.
How to talk about community planning for climate disruption
On Monday 11 November at 10am, you’re invited to join your colleagues from across local and regional government at a free online talk from Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw on How to talk about community planning for climate disruption.
This talk will cover the key research findings and framing and messaging recommendations that you can start using straight away to help build collective understanding and support for community planning and civic action for climate disruption.
Priority Development Area Updates
WRLC Projects are elevated to Priority Development Area (PDA) status if they have the potential to deliver significant housing and transport solutions at pace and scale. PDAs are a mechanism for coordinated and aligned action across multiple agencies to accelerate development in selected areas. WRLC currently has six PDAs, several of which are featured below.
Featherston Masterplan Completed & Adopted
This Masterplan presents a 30-year vision for the future of Featherston, and was endorsed in June 2024.
Lower Hutt Central Priority Development Area Progress
Lower Hutt is a stand out in our region for its population growth, employment, and industrial area.
Ōtaki’s new 5.5 million litre reservoir
The Ōtaki PDA is progressing well, with recent significant milestones including a new water reservoir
Article: A Fine Balance – Working with Control & Adaptability
This Thought Leadership Article by Rob Cousins previously featured in our March 2024 eNews feels worthy of a re-run.
Leaders are constantly challenged to strike a balance between control and adaptability. On one hand, maintaining control ensures efficiency, consistency, to meet KPIs, manage change, and create stability in an organisation. On the other hand, the need to be adaptive and responsive to emerging needs is crucial for staying competitive and relevant in a dynamic marketplace, as well as ensuring services can meet a range of competing customer or community needs, manage limited resources, and find new opportunities.
This article outlines three key areas to focus on to find a balance between control and adaptability. It is possible to set work up to succeed through transparency and connecting people with purpose.
The key is to focus on progress made in a clear direction, bringing staff into the problem solving with full knowledge of the opportunities and constraints, using tools that connect our people to foster collaboration.
WRLC Publications
Keep in touch
One of our guiding proverbs at WRLC is, ‘He waka eke noa‘ – we’re all in this together. If there is anything you’d like to share or know more about, please do not hesitate to contact us at: hello@wrlc.org.nz
About the Wellington Regional Leadership Committee
The Wellington Regional Leadership Committee is a union of councils, iwi and central government in the Wairarapa-Wellington-Horowhenua region, formed to work collaboratively on our shared, cross-boundary challenges, in order to positively shape the future of this region.
WRLC exists to enable better ways of working together to cultivate a region where people want to live, work and thrive.
Our projects cover the five broad key areas of iwi capacity, housing, climate, transport and economic development. Find out more on our project page. You can get in touch at hello@wrlc.org.nz.
