News from ICW
Inner City Wellington (ICW) has always tried to work cooperatively and in good faith with the Wellington City Council (WCC). An example of one successful co-operative outcome was the development of Camera Base Wellington in 2013. Yet, in contradiction of their stated aims of working with communities, WCC arbitrarily shut this operation down overnight in March 2020 with no consultation or notification to ICW.
The WCC CCTV cameras were originally put in place for the Rugby World Cup in 2011 and in 2013 the police approached ICW to provide volunteers to utilise this network. ICW agreed, and David Webb co-ordinated a group of 48-50 volunteers working at the Central Police Station.
“My worry is about having red, expired notices all over the city in 2027,” she says. Pannett blames the explosion in construction and engineering costs after legislation in 2004 compelled apartment owners to assess and fix earthquake-prone buildings, the lack of engineering expertise in a constrained market, and issues with the shifting sands of regulation in the wake of the Christchurch and Kaikōura quakes. But the main reasons for the slow progress, according to Inner City Wellington’s Geraldine Murphy, have been the poor implementation of that legislation and the lack of support for apartment owners. Many have been forced to take on multi-million dollar building projects they are not equipped to deal with, while each forking out many hundreds of thousands of dollars for the work.
Wellington.Scoop report by Jem Traylen
The Wellington City Council is being accused of underhand tactics after sacking a volunteer group which had been monitoring the inner-city’s CCTV safety cameras.
Sarah and David Webb, from residents’ group Inner-City Wellington, told a council Strategy and Policy Committee meeting last week that in March last year, without consultation, the council replaced the 50 volunteers with its own employees.
“It was extremely underhand the way it was done,” said Sarah Webb.
She said the official reason was because of technology, but that issue had been resolved, and the real reason was to protect the city’s reputation.
City councillor Tamatha Paul wants Wellington’s central city to be car-free by 2025. (File photo)
Nine councillors have supported a call for private vehicles to be removed from Wellington’s central city in the next four years, as part of a move towards a fossil fuel-free city centre by 2025. But on the city’s streets opinions are mixed, with cycle advocate Alex Dyer applauding the move, and the Chamber of Commerce hesitant to put hopes into another yet transport plan. Councillor Tamatha Paul’s notice of motion, which was signed by eight other councillors and sent to chief executive Barbara McKerrow on Thursday, requires council staff to formally report back on the idea no later than September this year.
Wellington high-cost lender accused of bullying rnz.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rnz.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.