Regional Strategy and Partnerships

Greater Wellington’s Regional Strategy and Partnership activities achieved 88 percent of their 8 performance measures this year.  

What we deliver for regional partnerships

Greater Wellington coordinates Regional Strategy and Partnership activities on a range of issues and priorities across the Region. Our approach is to build, develop and maintain strong relationships so we can achieve integrated decision making at a regional level and ensure the successful delivery of key regional projects. This includes building sustainable partnerships with mana whenua, and regional planning with territorial authorities and central Government. We also coordinate regional spatial and transport planning, planning for action on climate change, regional economic development plans and regional emergency management

Our commitments to Te Tiriti o Waitangi

We completed our first Te Tiriti Audit, providing Greater Wellington with a better means of gauging progress against our obligations to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. While the Audit is valuable in understanding where we currently are, it also helps us understand ‘where to next’ by outlining recommendations and opportunities for Greater Wellington to continue developing our approach as an organisation, and how we support our people to engage with Te Tiriti. The continued leadership of the Tiriti Komiti and the development of a robust work programme will ensure that there is a focus on the things that matter to mana whenua and Māori.

Active partnerships in planning

Greater Wellington further developed its partnership with mana whenua through the Long Term Plan Committee, which included representatives from our six mana whenua partners alongside the Regional Councillors. The Committee provided strategic direction and insights from communities across the Region.  

On the recommendation of Te Tiriti Komiti, Councillors voted to establish a Māori constituency in the next triennium. Mana whenua of the Region endorsed this, with the view that Greater Wellington continued to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. A recent decision by Central Government will require us to hold a public poll to confirm the creation of a Māori constituency for the 2028 elections, at cost to rate payers.

Regional growth in the face of climate change

Our Region is an attractive place to live, and will continue to grow. This year we supported the development of the Future Development Strategy and supporting implementation plan, as well as supporting the refresh of the Wellington Regional Economic Development Plan. These plans are important part of planning for growth and supporting a healthy environment.  

A new strategy released by Greater Wellington sets out a pathway to a low-carbon, resilient future, and the urgent action required to get there. The Wellington Regional Transport Emissions Reduction Pathway, a collaborative initiative between the nine councils of the Region, provides a long-term strategic approach to transforming our transport system, and ultimately the way we design our towns and cities. A major focus of the Pathway is increased transport choice through reliable public transport and active travel, reducing our dependence on private vehicles.    

We are supporting the Region’s and Greater Wellington’s response to climate change. Highlights include refreshing Greater Wellington’s Climate Strategy and two 10-point climate emergency response action plans, development of the Regional Emissions Reduction Plan and Wellington Regional Transport Emissions Pathway.  

A significant step toward becoming a climate resilient Region has been reached following the adoption of the Wellington Regional Climate Change Impact Assessment Report (WRCCIA) by the Wellington Regional Leadership Committee (WRLC). Produced by a project team comprised of staff from nine of the WRLC’s partner councils and supported leading subject-matter experts, the report presents a foundational assessment of the risks and impacts of a changing climate to our region over the next 100 years. The first phase is a project to help the region adapt to the impacts of a changing climate.  

The Wairarapa-Wellington-Horowhenua Region is projected to grow by 200,000 people over the next 30 years, and the WRCCIA identifies areas and sectors of the Region which are particularly vulnerable or resilient to a changing climate. It provides a regionally consistent framework to inform the next phase of the project, a regional adaptation framework.

Regional emergency planning

We continued to train staff to work in the Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC) during civil defence emergency responses. With approximately 170 staff who have received training to work in emergencies, the ECC is ready to activate to coordinate regional emergency response. We are also continuing to improve response and warning capability, including a successful pilot of our automated warning system in the Wairarapa, and supporting the Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (WREMO) to deliver a flood-focused Regional exercise.  

Coordinating our response to government changes

Greater Wellington has worked with our staff and gathered insights from other organisations and partners to inform our response to Government changes, including Briefings for Incoming Ministers and a Council response on a number of reforms including submitting on the new Government Policy Statement on Land Transport, Fast-Tracking legislation, local electoral amendment legislation, water services delivery legislation and climate policy. Council was updated on the progress of reforms and implications for Greater Wellington. This coordinated response is worth acknowledging, but the pace of changes and the breadth of impacts on councils and partners made it challenging to achieve.