Wellington City Council


Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's third-largest city by population, behind Auckland and Christchurch. Wellington City consists of the central historic town and certain additional areas within the Wellington metropolitan area, extending as far north as Linden and covering rural areas such as Mākara and Ohariu. The city adjoins Porirua in the north and Hutt City in the north-east. It is one of nine territorial authorities in the Wellington Region.
Wellington attained city status in 1886. The settlement had become the colonial capital and seat of government by 1865, replacing Auckland. Parliament officially sat in Wellington for the first time on 26 July 1865. During the last half of the nineteenth century, Wellington grew rapidly from 7,460 residents in 1867 to 49,344 by the end of the century.
The council represents a population of as of and consists of a mayor and fourteen councillors elected from five wards. It administers public works, sanitation, land use and building consents, among other local services. The council has used the marketing slogan "Absolutely Positively Wellington" in an official capacity since the early 1990s.

Council

All councillors are members of Council, the Strategy and Policy Committee, and the Annual Plan/Long Term Plan Committee.

Mayor

One mayor is elected at large from the entire Wellington City district.
NameAffiliation First electedResponsibilities
Andy FosterIndependent2019
  • Portfolio Leader, Transport and Urban Development
  • Deputy Chair, Annual Plan/Long Term Plan Committee
  • Ex-officio member of all committees and subcommittees

Eastern Ward

The Eastern ward returns three councillors to the Wellington City Council.
NameAffiliation First electedResponsibilities
Sarah FreeGreens2013
  • Deputy Mayor
  • Portfolio Leader, Governance
  • Associate Portfolio Leader, Transport
  • Chair, Annual Plan/Long Term Plan Committee
  • Member, Regulatory Processes Committee
  • Member, CEO Performance Review Committee
Teri O'NeillLabour2019
  • Portfolio Leader, Natural Environment
  • Associate Portfolio Leader, Community Well-Being
  • Member, Regulatory Processes Committee
  • Member, Council-Controlled Organisations Subcommittee
    • Sean RushThe Wellington Party2019
  • Portfolio Leader, Infrastructure
  • Associate Portfolio Leader, Urban Development
  • Member, Finance, Audit and Risk Subcommittee
  • Member, Council-Controlled Organisations Subcommittee

    • Lambton Ward

    The Lambton ward returns three councillors to the Wellington City Council.
    NameAffiliation First electedResponsibilities
    Iona PannettGreens2007
    • Associate Portfolio Leader, Urban Development
    • Member, Grants Subcommittee
    • Member, Finance, Audit and Risk Subcommittee
    Nicola YoungIndependent2013
  • Portfolio Leader, Arts, Culture and Events
  • Associate Portfolio Leader, Urban Development
  • Associate Portfolio Leader, Economic Development
  • Member, CEO Performance Review Committee
  • Member, Council-Controlled Organisations Subcommittee
    • Tamatha PaulIndependent2019
  • Portfolio Leader, Climate Change
  • Associate Portfolio Leader, Community Well-Being
  • Member, Grants Subcommittee
  • Member, Finance, Audit and Risk Subcommittee

    • Northern Ward

    The Northern ward returns three councillors to the Wellington City Council.
    NameAffiliation First electedResponsibilities
    Jill DayIndependent2016
    • Portfolio Leader, Māori Partnerships
    • Associate Portfolio Leader, Community Well-Being
    • Chair, Strategy and Policy Committee
    • Member, CEO Performance Review Committee
    • Member, Regulatory Processes Committee
    Malcolm SparrowIndependent2013
  • Associate Portfolio Leader, Resilience
  • Chair, Regulatory Processes Committee
  • Member, Grants Subcommittee
    • Jenny CondieIndependent2019
  • Associate Portfolio Leader, Transport
  • Chair, Council-Controlled Organisations Subcommittee
  • Deputy Chair, Finance, Audit and Risk Subcommittee

    • Onslow-Western Ward

    The Onslow-Western ward returns three councillors to the Wellington City Council.
    NameAffiliation First electedResponsibilities
    Diane CalvertIndependent2016
    • Portfolio Leader, Economic Development
    • Chair, CEO Performance Review Committee
    • Chair, Finance, Audit and Risk Subcommittee
    • Deputy Chair, Strategy and Policy Committee
    Simon WoolfIndependent2013
  • Portfolio Leader, Sport and Recreation
  • Member, Regulatory Processes Committee
  • Member, Council-Controlled Organisations Subcommittee
    • Rebecca MatthewsLabour2019
  • Portfolio Leader, Community Engagement
  • Associate Portfolio Leader, Community Well-Being
  • Member, Regulatory Processes Committee
  • Member, Grants Subcommittee

    • Southern Ward

    The Southern ward is the only ward that returns two councillors to the Wellington City Council.
    NameAffiliation First electedResponsibilities
    Fleur FitzsimonsLabour2017
    • Portfolio Leader, Community Well-Being
    • Chair, Grants Subcommittee
    • Member, CEO Performance Review Committee
    Laurie FoonGreens2019
  • Portfolio Leader, Waste Minimisation
  • Associate Portfolio Leader, Economic Development
  • Member, Grants Subcommittee
  • Member, Council-Controlled Organisations Subcommittee

    • Coat of arms

    The City of Wellington has a Coat of Arms. The Blazon is;
    Translation of the Blazon:
    The shield is divided vertically and horizontally, quarter of which the first and fourth are red and the remaining pair are blue. A golden cross is placed over the entire shield centrally between these quarters. The top left quarter contains a golden fleece. The second quarter is depicted as a silver sailing ship with its sails furled as it would be in port but with its flags flying, placed on waves in their natural colour. The third quarter contains a golden wheat sheaf, and the fourth has five silver discs arranged in a saltire.
    The mural crown is common as a crest in city coats of arms. It is coloured silver, and from its top comes a swimming dolphin. Around the crest is mantling in red. The supporters on either side of the shield are a golden heraldic lion with a chained collar around its neck to the left, and a moa in its natural colouring on the right. The base on which the supporters stand is normally not emblazoned but is left to the artist to decide. The Motto may be translated as "Supreme by position".

    Demographics

    Wellington City had a population of 202,737 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 11,781 people since the 2013 census, and an increase of 23,271 people since the 2006 census. There were 74,841 households. There were 98,823 males and 103,911 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.95 males per female. Of the total population, 32,856 people were aged up to 15 years, 54,999 were 15 to 29, 93,669 were 30 to 64, and 21,213 were 65 or older. Figures may not add up to the total due to rounding.
    Ethnicities were 74.1% European/Pākehā, 8.6% Māori, 5.1% Pacific peoples, 18.3% Asian, and 4.5% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
    The percentage of people born overseas was 33.4, compared with 27.1% nationally.
    Although some people objected to giving their religion, 53.2% had no religion, 31.4% were Christian, and 10.3% had other religions.
    Of those at least 15 years old, 74,922 people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 12,690 people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $41,800. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 96,453 people were employed full-time, 24,738 were part-time, and 7,719 were unemployed.

    Suburbs

    Wellington city has roughly 60 officially defined suburbs; one can group them by the wards used to elect the City Council. Some areas, while officially forming part of a larger suburb, are considered by some to be separate communities. The officially defined suburbs include:

    Northern Ward

    Positively Wellington Tourism, funded by the Wellington City Council, has designated the four inner-city "quarters" as marketing subdivisions to promote international and domestic tourism.

    Educational facilities

    , Wellington's oldest university, has its main campus in the hill suburb of Kelburn overlooking the centre of the city. It also has two downtown campuses and in the 2000s briefly had one in the western suburb of Karori after absorbing the former Wellington College of Education there. It originated as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The Senate of the University of New Zealand operated in Wellington until its dissolution in 1961.
    A branch of Massey University is located in Wellington: it took over the site and some of the courses of the former Wellington Polytechnic. The campus is based at the former Dominion Museum, which has moved to Te Papa. The University of Otago also has a Wellington connection, as the Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences is a department of that university.
    Wellington Institute of Technology serves Wellington and the neighbouring Hutt Valley. One of the largest polytechnics in the region, it dates from 1904.
    Numerous primary and secondary educational institutions operate throughout the city, see List of schools in Wellington, New Zealand.
    Wellington has a number of museums and galleries, including Te Papa, the City Gallery and the Museum of Wellington City & Sea. The Wellington Museums Trust runs the latter two, and other museums.

    Sister-city relationships

    ;Sister cities
    ;Historical sister cities
    ;Friendly cities
    The City of Wellington has subsumed independent boroughs including:
    The Wellington City Council owns and until May 2019 operated from a complex on Wakefield Street, with various extensions each representing a distinctive architectural period. The complex incorporates the Wellington Town Hall which opened in 1904, with the most recent extension completed in 1991 alongside the Wellington Central Library.
    The Wakefield Street complex has been cleared of back office functions, and since 28 May 2019 will be closed completely for repairs and earthquake strengthening. In the interim, most of the council's central office staff are located in commercial premises at 113 The Terrace, and the council's public service centre is at 12 Manners Street. Due to repairs also being needed to the Wellington Central Library, and Capital E, all of the civic buildings on Civic Square are closed, except for the City Gallery.

    Use of pseudoscience

    In December 2019, at the New Zealand Skeptics annual conference, the Wellington City Council and the Downer Group were co-awarded the Bent Spoon by NZ Skeptics for "showing the most egregious gullibility in 2019" for the contractor's use of water divining to find underground pipes.