Response to Town Belt Plan

We've received 259 submissions on a new management plan and legislation to protect and enhance the Town Belt.

Mike Oates, the Council's Manager of Open Space and Recreation Planning, says he is pleased with the response. Eighty-nine submitters have asked to speak to Councillors in support of their submissions.
The Town Belt Subcommittee will hear submissions in late February.

With over 200 square metres of green space for every resident, Wellington is among the greenest cities in the world - with the land reserved for the Town Belt playing a major part.

The draft Town Belt Management Plan proposes to return 85 hectares of land to the Town Belt, including Mount Victoria Lookout, the southern end of Te Ahumairangi Hill, and the former Chest Hospital and Vice-Regal land in Newtown.

Drafting instructions for proposed new legislation suggest modernising the rules governing the Town Belt and making it possible to add land.

Mike says a number of submissions relate to two pieces of original Town Belt owned by the Crown: Clifton Terrace and part of Te Aro School.

Following the public hearings, and once all submissions have been analysed, Council staff will prepare a report for the subcommittee to consider in April. The subcommittee will then recommend the final plan - with any changes - to the Strategy and Policy Committee and full Council in May.

"By the end of May we will have a revised Town Belt Management Plan and a set of drafting instructions that will form the basis for a Town Belt Bill," Mike says.