My Reflections of 2023 for Pōneke/ Wellington

The Highs

The opening of Tākina in partnership with our Iwi.  And it is performing way better than expected which means a big boost to the local economy.

The joy and the incredible uptake that’s happening on the new Kent and Cambridge Terrace cycle way

FIFA- Women's World cup - I didn’t expect me, my whanau or the whole city to be so taken over by FIFA fever. And the economic boost this brought to the Wellington.

The Lows 

The media sensationalising negative views of our beautiful city and one sided opinions of the council  

the council not working together as a team, although a majority of councillors do work well together even though we don’t all agree on everything politically.

The Darkest Days - the fire at Loafers Lodge and the deep sadness that we as a city had not been able to protect our most vulnerable.

The Biggest Loss - the government announcement on LGWM - particularly the loss of the MRT investment. Light Rail has been in reports since 1995 as ideally suited for Wellington. The catalyst and opportunity for urban development ( more homes), inner city vibrancy and an easy low-carbon lifestyle for now and the next generations is on the backburner again. 

The Most Inspiring moments

Tamatha Paul’s campaign launch - Powerful!

All the organisations who were part of the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards with EveryBody Eats as the supreme winner for 2023!

The way our city comes together for such great street parties- especially CubaDupa and Newtown Festival

The Most Progress  

Zero Waste - Circular Economy

The New Sludge Processing plant is being built at Moa Point

Committed to a Zero Waste Strategy

Working with the whole of the Wellington region on an Organic Food waste collection service

We’ll have Resource Recovery centres - starting with a partnership with the Sustainability Trust

In fact Welly’s Waste Free Community deserves a massive shout-out. A link to their wrap up can be found here

Paneke Pōneke / Bus and Bike Improvements program

Seeing the Botanic Garden Te PaeKākā, Ngāio, Kent/ Cambridge Terrace opened up with Newtown / Berhampore, Kārori signed off for the next stage.

Te Atakura - seeing the city's emissions reduce by only 1% this year, in the last year but 9% in the last three years. We’ve still got a way to go as we need to reduce another 7% per annum. 

 The Most Significant 

Voting to become a Friendly city with Ramallah, Palestine

 The Best International Recognition 

Capital Kiwi gaining the cover of the New York Times

Winning the Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure for the bike network vision and rollout.

The Most Gratitude  

To the organisations who look after our most vulnerable citizens.

To our iwi partners for the wonderful partnership and manaakitanga for our city.

To the firefighters, police and emergency teams who were there at the Loafers Lodge fire.

 The Most Meaningful - correcting the name from Epuni Street to Hōniana Te Puni St.

Expect more Te Reo naming coming out of Pōneke as we move toward our goal of being a Te Reo City 2040

I am proud of our new vision statement for Wellington

Pōneke- the creative capital where people and nature thrive

Wellington is one of the only cities in the world where our native bird diversity is increasing. This is thanks to all of those volunteers who are weeding, planting, trapping and particularly because of Zealandia.

We can all agree on and be proud of this - that we love to see nature thriving in our capital and that we are all thriving because of it.

Thanks to all of you for doing your bit for our city, our environment and our people.