Wellington Town Belt Bill

I move, That the Wellington Town Belt Bill be now read a third time. At the outset, can I please thank all those involved with the progress of this legislation through the House. In particular, I want to acknowledge the Wellington City Council, Mayor Celia Wade-Brown, and councillors, particularly Councillor Helene Ritchie, who has led this work in recent times. I do want to acknowledge the staff of the Wellington City Council, who have done extensive work over the years to ensure that the Wellington town belt continues to be the jewel in the crown of Wellington’s environment. But, in particular, I acknowledge Michael Oates from the Wellington City Council, who has been the person who has led the work on this piece of legislation and, indeed, on the advancement of the Wellington Town Belt Management Plan. Mr Oates has done a huge amount of work and deserves a lot of credit for this legislation. Can I also acknowledge the role of a large number of Wellingtonians who have acted as guardians, effectively, of the Wellington town belt over many, many decades.

The history of the Wellington town belt is such that from time to time there has been tension and controversy over its protection and its use. There have been a number of individuals and organisations that have worked hard to protect the original intent of the town belt, which is that it be a public recreation ground for the use of all Wellingtonians. I want to particularly acknowledge the Friends of the Wellington Town Belt. I want to acknowledge today one member of the Friends of the Wellington Town Belt who cannot be here, and that is Joan Quinn. Joan has done an enormous amount of work on protecting the town belt and on documenting the history of the town belt, and I know she would very much like to be here today. She has been here during previous readings. But I want to put it on record that she exemplifies the commitment of a number of other Wellingtonians to this important part of our city.

I also want to thank MPs from across the House for their support for this legislation. Fingers crossed, touch wood, they will continue with their universal support across the House for this piece of legislation. I want to acknowledge the Local Government and Environment Committee and its chair, Scott Simpson, for the good work that the committee did on this legislation, and all MPs who have supported it through to this stage.

The Wellington Town Belt Bill has been a long time coming. For me, as somebody who raised this in my maiden speech in Parliament about 8 years ago, it is great to finally be here today seeing it pass into legislation. But there were many people who came before me who saw the need to clarify and to make sure for generations to come that we protect and enhance the town belt. I want to acknowledge my predecessor as the MP for Wellington Central, Marian Hobbs, who began the process of drafting legislation, and there are some words still remaining from that legislation that was put forward about 15 or so years ago. This legislation comes with a long history to it.

The history of the town belt itself goes back a very long way. In 1839 John Ward, who was the New Zealand Company secretary, instructed the company surveyor who was responsible for the laying out of Wellington thus: “It is indeed desirable that the whole outside of the Town, inland, should be separated from the country by a broad belt of land which you will declare that the Company intends to be public property on condition that no buildings be ever erected upon it.” That was the instruction given to the surveyor.

From the very foundation of Wellington, the importance of open space and green space has been recognised. It is worth noting that the New Zealand Company’s motives were not entirely about having green space. It was quite interested in pushing up the value of the land that could be developed for housing, as well. But, whatever its motivation, the end result has benefited generations of Wellingtonians.

It is important to note that the provision of public parklands was a welcome novelty for those emerging from the stratified class system of Britain, where such parklands were privately owned by the wealthy. From its earliest days, the Wellington town belt has been about giving all citizens and inhabitants of Wellington the same rights to enjoy the great outdoors. It is also fair to say that from its earliest days, there have been tensions between keeping that town belt land free of development and the practical uses that it might be put to if there were development.

By the time the town belt deed was signed in 1873, around 190 hectares had been lost from the original town belt that was proposed, and over the years there have been some comings and goings in terms of land—more goings, unfortunately, than comings—and it has reduced in size by about one-third since 1873. For the most part, this has been for public purposes such as educational facilities, hospitals, prisons, and roads.

While on that note, one thing I would urge in the passing of this legislation today is that the current Government and future Governments think about why this legislation is being put up today and how significant the town belt is to Wellingtonians, and that if there are proposals to use the town belt for public works, that is done only when it absolutely has to be done and where other alternatives are looked at closely, so that the respect that this House is showing for the town belt is shown by those future Governments if they do believe there is a public work that they need to undertake.

One of the things I am most proud of today is that when this legislation passes, 120 hectares of land will immediately get added to the town belt—the most substantial addition of land to the protections provided by the town belt since 1873. For Wellingtonians listening, that consists mainly of what is called the old Telecom land on Tinakori Hill, Polhill Gully, the former chest hospital, and Vice Regal Park, which is part of the Government House land. They all return to the town belt today, and Wellingtonians should be proud and happy that that has occurred today.

I want to make clear that the purposes of this bill are largely around bringing together all of the legislation and the rules and regulations on the management of the town belt into one place that everybody can understand and see as the way to guide the future use of the town belt. We also wanted to make sure that we were making clear for the Wellington City Council what its responsibilities and powers were to protect, manage, and enhance the town belt.

Although it would be true to say that many people involved in the management of the town belt over the years have understood the primary purpose of the town belt—to for ever use it as a public recreation ground—the definition of what public recreation is, under clause 8 of the bill, has not always been clear. That is defined today in this legislation.

The bill defines “public recreation ground” as an area for “(a) recreation, sporting activities, and the enjoyment of the public, with an emphasis on the retention of public access, open spaces, and outdoor activities; and (b) the protection of the natural environment and historic heritage.” That is important. It is important because the primary focus must be on giving access to the greatest number of Wellingtonians to the use of the town belt.

In the select committee process, and then in the Committee of the whole House process, we were able to clarify that the maximum amount of land to be available in the town belt for leasing or licensing at any time will be 8 hectares. I understand from the city council that at the moment, and on average over the last few years, it has been around about 6½ hectares of land that has been used. Eight hectares, with the exclusion of the zoo and the chest hospital, is a limited part of what will now be over 500 hectares of land. Again, the Wellington City Council is aware from the submissions that have been made that it does need to ensure that the granting of leases and licences is temporary and does in no way undermine the ability of Wellingtonians to use the town belt for the purpose that it was intended.

The third and final element of the purposes of the bill that I want to mention is around the importance of the town belt to mana whenua and the inhabitants of the city. The town belt, through its management plan, will be managed in consultation with tangata whenua. That is appropriate because it is important to acknowledge that when the town belt was established, there were iwi groups that had control of lands that are contained within it, particularly those from Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Ruanui, Taranaki, and Ngāti Tama—the group collectively known as the Taranaki Whānui—and also Ngāti Toa Rangatira. The Treaty settlement process for both Taranaki Whānui and Ngāti Toa Rangatira has recognised the breaches of the Treaty in relation to the Crown acquisition of lands within the town belt. Part of acknowledging those breaches is to recognise the status of tangata whenua in this legislation and in the management of the town belt, and I know the Wellington City Council takes that seriously.

I am delighted that we will finally pass this legislation today. It will immediately see the town belt increase in size. I also believe it will have the effect over time of raising its status and of ensuring that the Wellington City Council manages it in accordance with its original intention. The Wellington town belt is a jewel in the crown of Wellington City, and today we take major steps to protect and enhance it.

As chairman of the Local Government and Environment Committee, which has considered this bill through the select committee process, I want to place on record my pleasure in supporting this third reading of the bill, and to confirm that it is the Government’s intention to support the bill, as we have done at the first and second readings. The member who has just resumed his seat, Grant Robertson, the local member for Wellington Central, is I think rightly proud of today’s situation in terms of bringing this bill, which has taken so long but is so worthwhile, to fruition. I would like to join with him and others in congratulating Her Worship the Mayor of Wellington, Celia Wade-Brown, her councillors, and her dedicated and professional staff members, who have helped guide this bill before it came to Parliament. They did an incredible amount of work prior to it being presented to the House. I also want to acknowledge and thank, as did Mr Robertson, those many, many people, past and present Wellingtonians, who have over the years supported the original intent of the trust deed in terms of protecting and enhancing the Wellington town belt as the wonderful, green, natural environmental asset that it is in an otherwise urban environment.

I am fortunate to come from a part of the country—the Coromandel—where we take access to our bush and our natural environment almost for granted, and where we have easy and regular access to beautiful, pristine walks and beaches and environmental jewels that are literally on our back doorstep every day of the week. That is not necessarily the case in many urban environments around our country or, indeed, around the world, so this Wellington town belt has absolutely become something of a jewel in the crown of the Wellington urban landscape. It is a very unique and historic horseshoe-shaped area of open space around Wellington’s inner city. When the concept of the urban belt was first developed and first mooted 170-odd years ago, how far-sighted were those original people? No matter their primary objective, the fact that they had the foresight and the wisdom to set aside an area of land as large as it was, and is today, for the benefit of the citizens of and visitors to Wellington I think shows considerable foresight and is something that they could be very grateful for and proud of today as we consider this bill.

The town belt provides a beautiful, scenic backdrop to Wellington’s urban environment. It offers obvious and natural recreational opportunities for tens of thousands of people every year, and on a daily basis I am one who, when I am in Wellington, takes an opportunity to walk in the early morning through the Wellington Botanic Garden, which forms part of the Wellington town belt. As a mere visitor to Wellington, I too get an opportunity to enjoy what has been and remains today a beautiful environmental attribute for the city.

Its genesis was back in 1839, when, as Mr Robertson said, the secretary of the New Zealand Company, one John Ward, gave instructions to set aside a belt of land not to be built upon around what was then the relatively small township of Wellington. The intention was to create a green and open space to improve the health and well-being of citizens. Those are worthy attributes, and ones that we still aspire to. After the New Zealand Company’s land passed to the Crown, the Governor of New Zealand at the time gazetted the belt of land as reserve in 1841. The land was again further transferred in 1865 from the Crown to the then superintendent of the province of Wellington, and it became known at that stage as the Crown Grant. It has often been referred to in history books and writings as the Crown Grant in days since.

It was when, in 1873, the trust deed was originally created that the mayor and councillors of Wellington became the trustee for the town belt. Wellington City Council is trustee of the town belt today, and it acts on behalf of the inhabitants and citizens of Wellington. The council is, of course, a guardian and manager, as well, of the town belt, and so it falls to the council to ensure that on a day-to-day basis the town belt is maintained and enhanced, that suitable provisions are made to ensure that public access is available, that maintenance occurs, and that correct planting, arbour work, tree pruning, and all those sorts of things that go with managing an area like this take place.

By the time this bill came to Parliament for its first reading a very significant amount of work had been done by staff and supporters of the town belt at Wellington City Council. It was some years of careful development and stewardship by council staff and councillors that shepherded the piece of legislation that was brought to us into a form that was presentable to Parliament. That process started with the approval of the creation of guiding principles back in mid-2011. That process formed the basis of what we now understand and know as the Wellington Town Belt Management Plan, and then the development of the drafting instructions took place in 2013. Final council approval for this bill took place in February 2015, and then it was presented to the House by Grant Robertson later that year. During this process, Wellington City Council received feedback from over 300 individuals and organisations, each of them with an interest, with a stake, with a—

💬 Paul Foster-Bell: How many?

Over 300 individuals and organisations, Mr Foster-Bell. Each of those individuals and organisations had a passionate interest in the town belt and its well-being and its future maintenance. They were all concerned that the integrity of the original trust deed should be maintained but that a modern, usable, manageable context should be provided by this legislation in order that for the next 100 years, or whatever, the management and operation of the town belt could be easily understood, could be easily guided, and could be sorted in a way that did not create the confusion and, sometimes concern amongst citizens and, indeed, council staff, that the current arrangements have done.

Wellington City Council’s obligations and power as trustee stem today—until this piece of legislation is passed later this afternoon—from a range of sources. Those sources include the original Town Belt Deed of 1873, the Reserves Act, and also a number of even older statutes than the Reserves Act. The relationship between many of those sources of trust authority are actually complex, they are detailed, and in some cases they are not clear or certain in terms of what the intent is. So it has been difficult for council staff and members of the public to actually interpret some of those original source documents and those source powers that have been designated to council. This piece of legislation tidies all of that up. This piece of legislation makes the future management, the future day-to-day operation of the town belt, and its future benefits to all Wellingtonians and visitors far easier to understand, a lot simpler, and far more meaningful in today’s legislative and practical context.

The bill also enables land to be added to the existing town belt. I want to just reinforce the point that as soon as this bill passes, a further 120 hectares will be added to the existing 390 hectares. That represents a very significant piece of land, and it is going to be a hugely significant benefit to future generations. The council has in this new piece of legislation a single, easily understood, easily interpreted reference point for how it is able to manage and look after the affairs of the town belt for the future. The Wellington Town Belt Management Plan will give the public, stakeholders, and council staff the tools they need to ensure that the foresight of the deed’s original authors are maintained and enhanced for future generations.

The Local Government and Environment Committee received 31 submissions and we heard from 21 submitters, each of them passionate and vigorous. I think the process has been a very good one. I am delighted to be able to stand on behalf of the Government and commend this third reading of the bill to the House.

I have great pleasure in speaking in the third reading of the Wellington Town Belt Bill. This is a bill in respect of which modesty has prevented my colleague and friend Grant Robertson from highlighting the work that he did to get this bill into the House, and today it is being passed. But I want to acknowledge the work that he has done. It was not an easy piece of legislation, and it took a lot of work and a long time to get it to the right stage with the right changes in it. Mr Robertson persevered, he worked with people, and he showed how you can work with a local authority as a local MP and bring forth a bill. Although you might not agree with absolutely everything that came in, you got to a position of a compromise where you are happy with what is now passing through Parliament. So I want to acknowledge Grant Robertson’s contribution.

He did it on behalf of not just the Wellington Central electorate, because what people forget is that the town belt is also in the Rongotai electorate and partially in the Ōhāriu electorate. So it in fact covers a large part of the three Wellington electorates—all used to be red once. Never—well, it is a long time since they were blue. But we do have Peter Dunne, who I know was supportive of this bill as well. We have worked together behind the scenes, not doing the grunt work that Grant Robertson has done, but ensuring that whatever we could do to make this bill go through the House, we would.

I want to thank the Wellington City Council too. The Wellington City Council, I know, has been very keen to have clarification of what has been some confusion around its role in the stewardship of this town belt, and it has wanted that for some time. I also want to thank Councillor Helene Ritchie, who has always had a great interest not only in the city but also in the environmental aspect of our city and in how unique our city is in terms of this town belt. As Grant Robertson said, the staff are often overlooked when it comes to giving credit, but I want to ensure that credit is also given to the staff of Wellington City Council.

In Grant Robertson’s contribution, he mentioned Joan Quinn, and I too want to talk about Joan. Joan is actually a constituent of mine, and she and Cynthia Wainwright shifted from Nelson very soon after I was elected. One of the first meetings I had with Joan was about the town belt. You might wonder why someone from Nelson was suddenly interested in the Wellington town belt. It was because Joan had done her Master’s thesis on the town belt. She had an enduring and long interest in this unique green encirclement of Wellington. So for many years, along with other friends and guardians, Joan Quinn has worked to have this day. I too am sorry that she cannot be here to witness it, but I am sure that Grant will send her the transcript of the excellent debate that is taking place for the third reading.

It is a unique part of Wellington. It is unique because it is a horseshoe-shaped green and open space, and it runs from the border of Wellington Central and the Rongotai electorates, across Mount Victoria, and it goes right across to Wadestown and to the borders of Ōhāriu. We cannot be like Christchurch, where, in the middle of that city, they have Hagley Park. You know, they are so proud of Hagley Park in Christchurch because of this big green open area, playing area, trees, recreation—a fantastic place is Hagley Park. We are a city on the side of a hill on a harbour. It is very difficult, other than having the Basin Reserve as a big green area in the middle of our city. But what we have had, and we have it now for the best part of 170 years, is this horse-shaped green area—

💬 Paul Foster-Bell: Horseshoe.

—that has become so popular and so important. Horseshoe-shaped—horseshoe-shaped. I see Mr Foster-Bell is getting a bit confused over there. It is a horseshoe-shaped town belt, Mr Foster-Bell. Come and have a look at the Rongotai part. You probably have not been over there.

This is a very unique part of Wellington, and I will tell you why: the public love it. They value it. It is a public recreational area. And for those who do not live in Wellington, I just want to tell them that on any day of the week if you go and look at the town belt, you will see people out there walking their dogs, pushing pushchairs, jogging. This is an area that a city right on the edge of a harbour can use for recreation and green space. It gives us the feeling that we have a lot more space than actually exists in the Wellington area. It is unique. I think it is probably unique in the world to have this town belt and the protection of it. So it has been really important that it has been protected.

I think one of the problems that Grant Robertson pointed out, right from the beginning when he introduced this bill, is that there has been a lack of clarity on some of the core aspects of the role given to the council under the deed that was set up for the town belt. We really—and, I think, the council and the residents of Wellington—wanted that to be fixed. What the bill does do is give very clear definitions as to what the roles are. I think that is really important—that the different roles the council has are clearly, clearly set out.

I think one of the things that has excited me about this bill has been the ability to add more land to the town belt, because time—[Interruption] Yes, I am going to talk about that in a moment. Time has been frozen—it goes back to the original creation of the town belt in 1873, and it has been frozen in terms of adding extra land to the town belt. This bill allows it, and I think I heard Grant Robertson say that an extra 120 hectares will be added. Think about how often that happens in a city—where you are able to add more open land in the entire city surrounds. It is very difficult when you have more houses being built and urbanisation, but this will enable another 120 hectares to be added.

I do want to just mention one area that was able to be added, and that was the old chest hospital. The old chest hospital—you can access it from Alexandra Road, if you have not been to it—is now the home of the SPCA. It was derelict. It sat there for years with nothing happening and, as Minister of Health, I was responsible for handing the chest hospital over to the Wellington City Council for $1. That has now become a really important activity in that old chest hospital, but it is part of the town belt. If you go up there on a Saturday, you will see dozens of people walking up to look at the SPCA and its activities, and enjoying the town belt. So it was able to be added, but that was not the case for the Telecom land, and so this bill will enable it to be added.

I am delighted that we have reached this stage of the bill, and we will certainly be having a celebration tonight for the work that has been done. I noted that Scott Simpson, when he spoke, said that the Local Government and Environment Committee had heard from 300 individuals and organisations through the submissions. That means a lot of people had a lot of interest in it, and this is their day to celebrate as well. I would have grave doubts that there were many who opposed us keeping the town belt in Wellington.

Can I say, in conclusion, to Grant Robertson, well done. Well done, Wellington City Council. Well done, the councillors and the staff of Wellington City Council. This is a red-letter day—a day when we are passing legislation that is going to enshrine our town belt for ever for the people of Wellington.

E te Mana Whakawā Tuarua, tēnā koe, tēnā koutou katoa e ngā mema o Te Whare. It is reasonably rare in this House that we on this side praise our opponents sitting opposite, but I do want to take this opportunity to congratulate my colleague Grant Robertson on having introduced and stewarded through in this House all three readings this bill, the Wellington Town Belt Bill, which is to the member’s credit and of great use and value to the people of Wellington. I want to join others in offering my congratulations to the hard-working officials—the staff of the Wellington City Council—but also the parliamentary officials, the advisers that we had, those who have assisted with the drafting of the bill, and all others who have been involved in advancing this important and very timely piece of legislation.

As someone interested in history, I want to touch on some of the background to how we got to where we are today. Wellington is not unique in New Zealand in having a town belt. Of course, Dunedin is the other town belt that we think of today, although Wellington’s is by far the biggest and best, I have to say, at 625 hectares, which was originally established in colonial times, compared with 225 hectares in the Edinburgh of the South. But those two cities were not alone either in having town belts, and I think we should remember today that New Plymouth, Christchurch, Invercargill, and Port Chalmers also had town belts. This land was deemed too valuable by the early settlers to be retained as recreation and undeveloped space and was developed very quickly. I am very, very grateful that this was not the case here in Wellington. We decided it was too valuable to lose to development, and retained it for that reason.

This is a local bill promoted by Wellington City Council, and it aims to protect the land of the Wellington town belt, modernise the governance arrangements—the 1873 trust is being modified in this legislation—and to preserve the land hereafter for the benefit of the people of Wellington. The select committee process that was followed, in my view, was excellent, and I want to put on record my congratulations to the very fine chairman of the Local Government and Environment Committee, my colleague Scott Simpson, the MP from the Coromandel, who did an excellent job of ensuring that the 31 submissions from interested groups and individuals were heard and given due consideration and that we took on board some of the issues that were raised, because it is fair to say that there have been some amendments to the initial draft of the legislation. These amendments are actually very important for the people of Wellington.

A significant issue that was raised with the original draft of the bill was the removal of the applicability of the Public Works Act. This was an issue that was brought up by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, among others, which called into question the wisdom of removing the applicability of the Public Works Act and, in particular, introducing special consultation provisions around the use of town belt land for absolutely essential infrastructure or, in fact, emergency use. Another submitter that did take exception to this part of the original drafting was the Wellington Electricity Lines company, which pointed out that in the event of an emergency situation—for instance an earthquake—the ability to temporarily erect high-tension lines through the town belt to power Wellington Hospital over in Newtown, for instance, would be something that would either require some sort of special emergency empowering legislation or could be done via the Public Works Act.

So I think it was actually wise of the committee, having taken on board those suggestions, to make the amendments to this bill. It avoids the controversy of this bill being seen to block crucial infrastructure projects. Too often Wellington has been set back by crucial transport infrastructure—like the Basin Reserve, for instance, and the bypass there, which would have actually brought that up to date and to where it needs to be, given that is a traffic intersection that is at over 100 percent capacity. It is at something like 105 percent capacity at the moment, and getting worse. We would not have wanted legislation that would prevent that kind of important infrastructure, which is absolutely essential to enable our capital city to continue to thrive and grow and develop, so I was very glad to see that was dealt with in the amendments that were adopted during the committee stage, and have been very well gone through during the Committee of the whole House here, as well.

I do agree with the comments made by Mayor Celia Wade-Brown, who said the most important thing was getting a bill before the select committee, where the feedback and changes could occur. Like other members of the committee, I was listening to submitters, including Land Information New Zealand, which also backed up the points made by the chamber of commerce and the electrical lines company around the issues to do with not having the Public Works Act applicable to the town belt.

This is now a very good piece of legislation. It does protect the town belt as it currently is and also gives the provision to add in or reclaim parts of the town belt that have been alienated. In fact, it now is a condition that the council finds itself imposed with that it is not in a position where it can alienate land from the town belt without having to use the proceeds from that to further enhance the town belt by the addition of new land.

The point has been made by members opposite that some of the land that has been taken in the past is being put to public use. So it is not the simple planted slopes or the forest land that the majority of the town belt is, which is available for the public to walk through. I think that is a very, very important part of the town belt.

The Vice Regal Park, which is added on to the back of the Government House grounds, is a public amenity. It is something that is enjoyed by people when they are visiting Government House, and I think we should note that His Excellency the Governor-General, the Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae, has really opened up Government House, more so than any previous Governor-General, with the addition of a good visitors centre and more frequent school visits, and has also opened up the house itself to visitors during occasions such as investitures of those New Zealanders who have achieved a royal honour. So those going to visit the house have an opportunity now to explore the house and the grounds more than they ever have in the past, and this is something that I think is a welcome development. It is also using that land that was once part of the town belt and now forms part of the viceregal residence and grounds for a public purpose, even if it is not a walking track that might be openly available for every member of the public to walk through at will. So it is certainly not a case of town belt land being privatised or being used for commercial purposes.

I agree with the comments made by Grant Robertson that it is actually a good thing that there are limits to the amount of town belt land that can be even temporarily rented out, leased, or given some usage rights for the operation of, maybe, a sporting type facility. It could be recreational facilities or it could even be an ice cream stall or a public convenience of some sort—an amenity of that kind. That limit of 8 hectares of town belt land that can be used for these purposes, I think, is very reasonable, and that was something that I am pleased to say there was cross-party support for. So I want to add my voice of praise for the town belt to the voices of colleagues who have spoken so far.

The inner town belt—the 625 original hectares, which has now been whittled away to around about 400 hectares—is in a horseshoe shape, Mrs King. We could call it a boomerang shape or a half-moon shape. It is certainly not in the shape of a horse, as the member alleged earlier. That horseshoe-shaped piece of land that stretches from Mount Victoria through to Te Ahumairangi Hill in the north-east is actually supplemented by a larger, outer belt. There is almost 5,000 hectares of green space that goes from the south coast around to Colonial Knob in Tawa.

💬 Scott Simpson: Where?

Colonial Knob, Mr Simpson, in the Tawa area. So that wider or that outer town belt is a collection of national park, conservation space, private space—both protected and publicly available and also private lands—that does form a beautiful adjunct to the central town belt. That is in a roughly horseshoe/circular shape.

The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order!

Thank you, Mr Assistant Speaker. I commend this bill to the House.

Kia ora. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou, kia ora. I rise to support this bill and it is with great pleasure that the Green Party is supporting this local bill in the name of Grant Robertson, the MP for Wellington Central. It is fantastic that we are finally here tonight. I do not need to remind members—it has been well canvassed in the debates—that it has taken an awfully long time to get here when you consider the original visioning of the town belt from 1839 through to the town belt deed in 1879, to more than a hundred years later when Grant Robertson, I understand, first got involved all the way back in 2001, and to the official process kicking off in 2010. Here we are in 2016 in the third reading of this legislation, and it is fantastic to be here cleaning up the various statutes, reserves, and deeds that relate to what is a very special part of our city—I believe a taonga—not only for Wellingtonians but for all New Zealanders, being in our capital city.

First of all, I would like to thank and acknowledge the many people who have been involved. First of all, Grant, I think this is a testament to perseverance in politics. It has taken a long time to get here, but it is a fantastic achievement. Obviously, the Wellington City Council has played a pivotal role in this legislation—

💬 Paul Foster-Bell: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am sorry to interrupt the member, but I believe it is the convention in this House to refer to members by their surname or their electorate.

The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Thank you.

From the member who gave an embarrassing Star Wars speech before—incredible stuff.

The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): No. Mr Hughes, can you resume your seat. I treated the point of order in the way that I thought it deserved. You cannot refer to it.

I would like to continue the thanks and acknowledgment for the work that has gone on for the bill from the Wellington City Council, the various officials who were involved, the 250 submitters in that process through to the 30 submitters in the select committee process through our Parliament, and, of course, the Local Government and Environment Committee chair, Scott Simpson. It is great that so many people have come together to protect what is a taonga for our city.

Reflecting personally, it is every day that I scooter with my kids to school past the botanical gardens part of it. In my student days my flat backed almost on to Mount Victoria, and I will not share any student stories with the House tonight. In my married days we lived in the Aro Valley and we would often walk up Polhill Reserve to the Brooklyn wind turbine. Through to today, in my days off one of my favourite things is walking with my dog, Joe, the German shepherd, up Te Ahumairangi Hill—up to the top there, to the radio mast. It is an incredibly special place, and I am sure all Wellingtonians have their own unique, special stories about this part of our capital city, which we love.

It is fantastic that we are passing legislation unanimously. As often is the case with local bills, it is passed unanimously, often non-controversially. In a later part of my speech I will touch the single concern that we have with this legislation. But, first of all, it is a real improvement to the status quo. What the area has been operating in is a hodgepodge of the Reserves Act, the original 1879 town deed, and various other statutes—the Public Works Act, for example. It is good to sort of rationalise this in one place.

A key problem has been that it has been impossible to add land into the town belt. Land has previously been taken out, but it has been impossible to add it in. So to, I guess, introduce a dieting methodology, we have actually been tightening the belt with this legislation. We are protecting and strengthening particularly the powers under the Reserves Act and, critically, more land will be introduced to Wellington’s town belt as a result of this third reading and the consequent signature by the Governor-General to add 120 hectares of land to that.

Crucially, it recognises the history of mana whenua and also a co-management role when it comes to managing this incredible part of our city. I would like to acknowledge Te Atiawa, Ngāti Ruanui, Taranaki, Ngāti Tama—which together comprise Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika—and Ngāti Toa Rangatira. It is an incredibly positive step for New Zealand to be acknowledging their historical role but also a role going forward—which, I am sure, will be much longer in length than the existence of the town belt—together in a partnership. When you just look at the principles of the legislation, you get a sense of what Parliament is achieving tonight, which is protecting the landscape character of the town belt, enhancing it, supporting healthy, indigenous ecosystems, and making sure that the Wellington town belt is accessible for all to enjoy, including for a wide range of recreational activities.

My final point, which is not to take away from the very positive step that this legislation represents, is the concern we had about clause 23. Obviously, the original legislation was amended in the select committee—clause 23, which relates to the Public Works Act. The member Paul Foster-Bell, who spoke before me, I believe introduced an incredibly weak and, I think, false argument that this needed to change because of the potential earthquake risk and insecurity of the supply of electricity to the hospital. That is a smokescreen. The reason for this, of course, is that the Government is determined to try to ram through a seven-lane motorway on the Hātaitai side of the Mount Victoria tunnel, down Ruahine Street. No one in Wellington, I wager—and I think it is a reasonable assumption—would object to an emergency electricity supply. Can any member envision that scenario happening? Yet that is exactly the argument Paul Foster-Bell is using when the select committee removed reference to Wellingtonians as interested parties with the ability to object to acquisition under the Public Works Act. I believe it is a ridiculous scenario and example—that some Wellingtonian would object in the event of a major earthquake to maintaining electricity supply to the hospital.

Of course it was a political argument—right? The argument was not really about that. It was because the member could not say the words that he really meant, which were that the Government wants to ram through a seven-lane motorway and it wants to eat into the town belt to achieve it. This is exactly why the clause was amended in the select committee.

However, on the whole, this legislation is a considerable improvement, despite this. The way we are going to protect the houses in that region and the way we are going to make sure Wellingtonians get better transport choices—including light rail through to the airport and better bus services, which do not require a seven-lane motorway—is, of course, the general election next year.

This legislation is a considerable improvement on what is a very special place for Wellingtonians and for mana whenua, and that is why we are very proud of and privileged to have the work that Grant and the rest of the team have put into it, and we are glad that we can support it with our votes in Parliament tonight. Kia ora.

It is a pleasure to rise in support of this Wellington Town Belt Bill at its third reading. I will commend the sponsoring member’s efforts in this, but today, as has been mentioned earlier, is May the fourth, and may this day always be with us. It is also known to the many fans as Star Wars Day. This is a very serious and important debate. The lead up to it was somewhat quite interesting, because as I watched some of it on television and some of it in this Chamber, there were a few references to Star Wars Day going around. A colleague on my side was suggesting that the Leader of the Opposition was Palpatine—some evil emperor. I think he was trying to portray the persona of a young Obi-Wan Kenobi. Then Mr Tabuteau was also making certain references, which I could not quite make out, but I am a Star Wars fan and the character that sprang to mind for me was Jar Jar Binks.

But we move on to the Wellington Town Belt Bill. I would like to commend Grant Robertson for his exemplary, excellent work and commitment to seeing this local bill introduced and passed through the House with unanimous support. Mr Robertson raised the town belt in his maiden speech, and it has stuck with him, not only as words in his speech but as actions. He was clearly committed to doing something about it. Along with commending his resolution and dedication to this, I will also acknowledge the elected councillors, the mayor, and the officials of Wellington City Council for their perseverance and also, quite frankly, their willingness to compromise and accept that it is better to have a bill pass through the House that strengthens the Wellington town belt and protects it for all of Wellington than to spend more years arguing—perhaps from an ideological basis and some sense of pure vision—about a bill that might not receive sufficient support in the House to be passed.

Here we are, at this point, and the bill was introduced into the House only a few short months ago. Although it has taken a long time for the bill to come to the House, it has gone through the proceedings of the House in fairly short order. Here this evening we are all, I think, very, very confident that this bill will be passed in this third reading unanimously.

Just as we work through this, I think it is important to also give some consideration as to how and why this belt is so important to Wellingtonians. As has been mentioned, it is a horseshoe-shaped ring that, basically, frames the city from around Mount Victoria through to, as has been mentioned, Te Ahumairangi Hill, which ends at the edge of the Ōhāriu electorate. In a very real sense it frames the city, and you could say—and what I like about it—it harnesses in many respects the good qualities and the energy of this fine city, particularly as we seek to project ourselves into the globe and build upon our creative industries and our ICT, as well as our traditional light manufacturing and primary industries. As Wellington seeks to retain its status as a thriving, vibrant, and growing powerhouse within New Zealand, we have this belt that helps to showcase our city. I think it is actually a quality, a characteristic, of the city that the inhabitants—both long-term and perhaps more transitory—actually see real value in it.

That brings us to why we have reached this point today, and why Wellingtonians would see it as so important and worthwhile to protect the town belt into the future. It is because its status has never been perhaps quite as certain as members and inhabitants would have liked. As has been pointed out by members in the debate so far, it actually started off as a larger holding than it is today. It was in excess of 500 hectares, but today it is roughly around about 400 hectares, so there have been points in its history when, despite the trust deeds and despite the nature in which it was first gifted, the land within the town belt has not always been so sacrosanct to the governance within the city that it might not be pared off for other purposes.

What this bill will do is not only ensure that the 400 hectares that comprise the belt today are protected but—as members have pointed out; both Grant himself, the Hon Annette King, and my colleague Paul Foster-Bell—it will give the ability for the council to add to the town belt. Around approximately 120 to 130 additional hectares of land will be added to the belt following the passing of this bill. Not only does it give the inhabitants of Wellington absolute certainty as to the protection and status of their town belt but it actually does not prevent the town belt from expanding, in time, in ways that might be appropriate to the inhabitants of Wellington as expressed through their elected officials—the mayor and councillors of the city.

But I think the value of the town belt is more than as a simple visual pleasure or a continuance of a green space in Wellington. It is actually used for a number of worthwhile activities. One of the uses of the town belt is as a sport and recreation facility. For many, many years there has been a velodrome in the Hātaitai section of the town belt, and it is also home to a Wellington rugby club. From my personal perspective particularly, my daughter plays netball at the netball facilities at Hātaitai Park very regularly through each winter, and not alone—many, many hundreds of Wellingtonians—

💬 Carmel Sepuloni: You can’t play netball by yourself.

—play netball in that fine facility. It provides a space for many teams to play simultaneously on separate courts. I am afraid not all members quite understood that very clear reference, but I am happy to educate them and help their understanding a little. One does understand on this side of the House that they are often much in need of that.

However, the town belt itself is used for many, many good purposes for Wellington residents, with sport being one of them. That is actually important—the ability to do not only those particular activities but activities that the inhabitants of Wellington would deem worthy. It is very important that those activities are protected, because throughout this process, as people have pointed out—there were about 300 submissions to the council and there were 31 submissions made to the select committee here, of which about 21 or so were heard in person. Amongst those submitters—because some certainly came to see me—there were people with very well-intentioned motives, but if their particular wants had been translated into the bill, they might actually have prevented some of those activities that, as I have said, the inhabitants of Wellington value within the town belt. They may have seen those activities curtailed, if not completely removed. They really wanted an absolutely pure green space.

But what the bill is going to do, as it does pass into legislation following this reading, is it is going to protect the power of the council to grant either leases or, most likely—as council members have themselves expressed—licences for activities to occur, including some commercial activities in the belt. For instance, in the sporting facilities that I mentioned just a couple of minutes ago, parents—most often parents—while watching their children play sport are now able to actually go to the cafeteria. They get a coffee, get some food—healthy food, too, I might add—and enjoy that while they are watching their children play sport. Their ability to do that is actually because the council can offer licences—more likely licences than leases. The council can offer operators the ability to provide certain services in the town belt and, if some submitters’ wants had been expressed in the legislation, those services may—in fact, would have been—curtailed. That would not necessarily be the best thing for Wellington.

I think that actually brings us to the heart of what is most important about this bill, not necessarily in terms of the text of the bill, but in terms of what it is seeking to achieve and, I believe we all agree, will achieve—that is, it is going to protect a green space for the inhabitants of Wellington. They will get to choose what that space will be used for over its lifetime. Through their elected officials, through the council, and through the officials within the council, the will of Wellingtonians as to the green space that can be protected in their environment and how it can be added to and how it can be used as an amenity for the values of the citizens, the inhabitants, of Wellington—this bill protects that.

I think it is an incredibly important piece of legislation for this city and its environs. I think the value of it stretches beyond just the inhabitants within the city council area but also to people in the Hutt Valley, to Porirua, even to the Kāpiti coast—to the region as a whole. It is an absolute privilege to stand in the House and speak in this third reading, and I commend this bill to the House.

It is an unusual thing when unity and harmony break out in the House of Representatives and you have a situation where not only is the House unanimous in its support for a member’s bill but also it is actually speaker after speaker, even on the Government’s side—yes, I say that. Even the Government’s side has today been generous towards all people who have worked on and contributed towards what will be the passage of this piece of legislation.

I will start, on behalf of New Zealand First, by giving our congratulations, firstly to Marian Hobbs, an old friend of mine from down in Christchurch. I do remember the days when I stood for Labour against Ruth Richardson, the architect of the black Budget, the “mother of all Budgets”. That was in what was known as the Selwyn electorate, and Marian Hobbs succeeded me to stand for Selwyn in the by-election that saw the Hon David Carter enter Parliament, because I chose not to stand for Labour, actually. I do note that Marian came third in that one, whereas I actually came second, but never mind—a close second. But never mind, that was history. It is funny how history goes.

But also I want to pass on congratulations, most sincerely, to Grant Robertson, and I thank the Hon Annette King for the support that she has steadfastly given him throughout what has been a long, arduous process to bring us to this point here and now. Thanks also to the Local Government and Environment Committee for the way in which, I think, all members have tackled some of the issues that have vexed some members of the community. But I am very confident that New Zealand First is lending its support to a very worthwhile piece of legislation, and we look forward to maybe celebrating this a little bit later on.

I think sometimes when you get to this speaking slot—I have said it before—almost everything that needs to be said about the legislation and the process has been said, so I am going to try something different. Firstly, I am going to acknowledge the advisers to the select committee, the Department of Internal Affairs and Land Information New Zealand, which provided not one, not two, but three reports to the select committee during the passage. What started out as a very simple report on 6 November 2015, I note, blew out quite substantially. For those who are listening on the radio, you cannot see it, but I am holding up a very slim document, which consisted of only eight or nine pages—four pages, backed. This blew out to be quite a substantive document. I see Mr Grant Robertson is having a good chuckle there, because come 3 December 2015 the issues were somewhat more complex, one should say.

That was followed up by a further supplementary report from the two departments, which was given to the select committee on 8 February 2016. For anybody listening who thinks that there was not due, solid consideration given to the many technical issues that arose, have a read of those three departmental reports. That might enlighten those people somewhat.

I also want to recognise some of those people who came before the select committee: Friends of the Wellington Town Belt, Wellington City Youth Council, Mt Victoria Residents’ Association, Craig Palmer, Transpower New Zealand—interesting—Joan Quinn, Judith Graykowski, John Christopher Horne, the Wellington City Council—and, I know, the mayor specifically—Mayor Celia Wade-Brown, Mike Oates, Nick Chapman, Adam Holloway, and, particularly Councillor Helene Ritchie, who put a lot of effort into the production of the bill and getting it into the process whereby it might pass. Wellington Water presented, and the New Zealand Transport Agency, of course. Mt Victoria Historical Society made a submission, as did Tim Bollinger, Ellen Blake, Wellington Botanical Society—of course, you would naturally expect to have a good submission from the Wellington Botanical Society—and Victoria Lamb. The one comment from Victoria Lamb that stood out for me was that this process had been well consulted with the public, and by “this process”, I am referring to the consultative process taken up by the Wellington City Council and the select committee. Wellington Civic Trust submitted, as did Action for Environment and the Greater Kelburn Progressive Association.

I do want to pay particular attention to the efforts of Councillor Helene Ritchie, and she is here in the gallery today—hi, Helene. I had the joy and the pleasure of sitting with Helene on district health boards in my time out of the Chamber, and I know the value and the amount of work and effort that Helene Ritchie puts into the community and into trying to enhance the lives and well-being of people in communities. Whether that is on the health board, whether it is at city council, that has been her long track record, and I just want to compliment her on it.

If I go back to the report of 3 October 2014, when the decision was made to raise the bill, to have a bill brought to Parliament, a number of comments were made by Helene Ritchie. I think in that report she talked of: “In the words of the Queen’s Counsel who provided legal opinion: ‘the Bill better expresses in a complete way the basis upon which the Town Belt is to be made available and managed, better defines the council’s powers and provides for improved transparency in its decisionmaking’.” That pretty much sums up what the aim was from Wellington City Council, and particularly from Helene Ritchie, at that time.

The report went on to state that a significant amount—well, I will leave it for you to read that. It was an interesting report that came through. It listed some 10 different points that the bill would aim to achieve, and stated: “This is the culmination of four and a half years’ work, and a great public contribution from hundreds of constructive, passionate Wellingtonians. As Portfolio Leader leading the process, I”—that is, Helene Ritchie—“have endeavoured to ensure meticulously word by word that through this Bill/Act, the Town Belt is and will be protected to the highest possible level for current and future generations. It has been one of the most rewarding, and sometimes challenging, roles in my time on the City Council.” That is a quote from Helene Ritchie, and I think it deserves to be read into the Hansard.

But looking at the passage of this bill, or the pathway that Wellington has walked to get to this point, one cannot help but reflect on a couple of things. One of the things I will reflect on is the comment in the speech earlier on from, I think, Scott Simpson, who said that green spaces promote the health and well-being of citizens. Could not agree more—could not agree more. I just do not understand why this Government removed health and well-being as those key things that local government is meant to consider in governing—

💬 Hon Member: So they’ve stopped, have they? They needed to be told.

Well, I was there, Minister. I was there, at Local Government New Zealand at the time, and I unanimously opposed that change by this Government. But do not worry, the next Government will put it back. I will say that again: the next Government will put it back.

But I agree with Scott Simpson that health and well-being is an issue and those things can be enhanced by having green spaces and green belts such as this. I do lament, if we go back in history again and look at Christchurch and the situation that it faced back in 1991, when we had the Greenbelt Protection Society, which fought so stridently to retain the green belt—something that is lost but, ironically, might well be restored as one of the consequences of the planning that is going on down there in the aftermath of the earthquakes. But, again, how ironic that one of the people who sought to undermine the green belt and actually bring about those changes that saw land loss was a National Minister of Finance by the name of Ruth Richardson.

Those who fail to remember history are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past, and I just say that because, in this air of unanimity and conviviality, we do sometimes need to take a reality check and remind ourselves of our track record—and it is not all roses. But this point is a high point.

I want to note a couple of submissions in particular, and I will cut through—looking at the time—to a submission from the Wellington City Youth Council. There is a paragraph there, the third paragraph, that states: “We support the changes to the legal framework surrounding the town belt to modernise the future management. Given the historical problems with land development along the Town Belt, this new framework is well overdue to create a new legal precedent for future decisions which is modern and relevant.” This is a very pertinent paragraph and summary from the Wellington City Youth Council, and for that, we as a committee thank it.

New Zealand First supports this legislation. We congratulate everybody who has been heavily involved in its production and passage, and we will be supporting it with our vote.

They used to call that medium-paced trundler for the Black Caps Gavin Larsen, “The Postman”, because he always delivered. Ron Mark is a bit like that with his speeches—he always delivers. That speech really was extraordinary. It had everything. It had philosophy, quoting Santayana. It had the ode to Helene Ritchie. It had the hubris—you know, the promise from the Opposition cross benches that a future New Zealand First - led Government will bring back health and well-being in the Local Government Act. It had the grandiloquence that always comes with Mr Mark’s speeches. It had the history, the stories of the past—the failed selection attempts, or the failed campaigns down in Canterbury. But it happened to be very boring at the same time. What an extraordinary speech. Who knows how he does it, but Ron Mark always delivers.

I have been offshore for a few weeks—

💬 Grant Robertson: Who are you—Ewen Chatfield?

A good Hutt Valley man, Ewen Chatfield—a good Hutt Valley cricketer. Still playing club cricket, old Ewen—I played against him for the parliamentary team earlier this year. A great guy.

I have been offshore for a few weeks, and I was eagerly watching the House and wondering what bill I would speak on first when I came back from being offshore. I was wondering: “Will it be following the redoubtable David Bennett on a finance bill, having to rebut some of the things that Grant Robertson said and having to deal with the things that Grant says to David? Or would it be following Mr Twyford on a housing bill, and listening to the flecked anger that comes across the House? Or would be the Wellington Town Belt Bill?”.

It is the Wellington Town Belt Bill that I have to speak on, and it actually is a pleasure because, as I said in the second reading debate on this bill, the Wellington town belt is a taonga of Wellington. Wellingtonians probably actually take it for granted, in some ways. They do not probably ever turn their minds to the legal status of the town belt, and, as I said in the second reading, it is hard to imagine Wellington without that 500 hectares of open space that is available for all Wellingtonians to enjoy.

I want to pay tribute to a few groups and people. I want to pay tribute to Grant Robertson, the local member who has shepherded this bill through. Actually, it was not until Grant was speaking about the bill that he made reference to Marian Hobbs. I was not aware that Marian Hobbs—I mean, I should have really thought about it. Of course Marian Hobbs would have been involved as the former local member but also as a former Minister for the Environment, although that, to be fair, was a slightly unhappy tenure for her. But she was a former Minister for the Environment and a noted lover of green spaces.

One of the first rugby matches I ever attended in my life at Athletic Park was with Marian Hobbs. It was that South African test in 1998 when Carlos Spencer missed about six goals in a row, and we lost in that terrible season of 1998. Marian Hobbs is an old family friend, and I want to pay tribute to her—watching, no doubt, from wherever she is at the moment—for the work she has done on this bill, and to Grant as well.

I want to pay tribute to Mayor Celia Wade-Brown. These are exciting times in Wellington at the moment. I think we are up to seven declared mayoral candidates for the local elections later in the year. These are exciting times, with the Labour Party splitting asunder with various candidates, and, it is fair to say, with the centre-right splitting as well. So, anyway, these are interesting times in Wellington. Mayor Celia has been a champion of the Wellington town belt for many years and, I know, has worked with Grant on this bill.

I did not have the pleasure of sitting on the Local Government and Environment Committee—

💬 Scott Simpson: For shame.

Well, indeed. As my good colleague Scott Simpson, the chair, points out: “For shame.” It was a shame, but look, you cannot be everywhere at once, and no doubt there were other matters occupying me at the time.

I want to pay tribute to the Wellington City Council, to Helene Ritchie—who I see is here in the gallery—and also to the people on the Local Government and Environment Committee, who worked really well.

I was reading some of the history of the Wellington town belt in the preamble to the bill, and I was slightly interested to discover that the Basin Reserve—you know, that famous ground down at the end of Cambridge Terrace and Adelaide Road in Wellington. It is the scene of some of New Zealand’s greatest sporting triumphs, and some of our lowlights over the years as well. I was interested to discover that way back in the day, some years after the New Zealand Company turned up on the shores of Pētone in 1839, the Basin Reserve, along with the town belt and the Canal Reserve—the Basin Reserve was part of the town belt by dint of the execution of the Town Belt Deed. The three parcels of land were known as the town belt, the Canal Reserve, and the Basin Reserve. Of course, over the passage of time the Basin Reserve has been removed from the town belt, which is probably for the best, and is governed in other ways.

But it is just a fascinating aspect of history, really. It is interesting to note that great sporting vista that is the Basin—it is not really ever known as the Basin Reserve by Wellingtonians; it is just known as the Basin, and it is somewhere where I have spent many a summer’s day on the embankment over the years—used to be part of the Wellington town belt.

But just to return to where I started this somewhat rambling speech—

💬 James Shaw: Where was that?

Indeed. Just to return to where I started, about how the Wellington town belt is a treasure—

💬 Alastair Scott: Ron Mark.

Well, I started with Ron Mark, but, look, I do not think that any speech that starts with Ron Mark and ends with Ron Mark is going to go down in Hansard as a champion speech. So I probably will not end my speech by talking about Ron Mark, but I want to end my speech by talking about the subject of the bill—always a novel concept in Parliament on a members’ day—which is the Wellington town belt.

I want to talk about what a treasure it is and talk about how, actually, most people probably never turn their mind to the legal status of the town belt. They never think about the way in which it is governed. They probably never think about the legal niceties. They never think about some of the complications that come with reserves and things like that. They just know that it is there, and they want it to be there because every day and every weekend, and particularly on the weekends, not only Wellingtonians but also people from the Hutt Valley, where I hail from and am based now; people from farther up the Hutt Valley; and people from Wairarapa, where Alastair Scott hails from, and Ōhāriu, where Mr Hudson, my colleague sitting here, hails from, enjoy the Wellington town belt in all of its munificent glory. It is great that we have unanimity in the House tonight on the passage of this very important piece of legislation.

The next call is a split call. I call James Shaw—5 minutes.

It is a great pleasure for me to rise, as a Wellingtonian and as a member of Parliament based in Wellington, to speak on behalf of the Wellington Town Belt Bill as it goes through its final reading and enters into law. As many of the other speakers have done, I would like to start by congratulating a number of people, starting with the Local Government and Environment Committee—in particular, the chair, Scott Simpson—on shepherding this bill through and doing so, I thought, in a very even-handed manner with a very fine hand on parliamentary process.

I also congratulate the officers who supported this bill, both the officers of Parliament and also, and in particular, the Wellington City Council officers, who delivered to Parliament before the first reading a near-perfect bill, pretty much ready to sail through. They had done a colossal amount of work in getting the bill ready for entry into Parliament—a bill that was messed with in only a few, but very important, ways, which I will refer to in a minute. I think that they did a terrific job of getting it to the starting line of parliamentary process.

I also want to pay tribute to the member for Wellington Central, Grant Robertson, whom I have had the pleasure and privilege of standing alongside at a number of elections—

💬 Phil Twyford: “Standing against”, I think you meant.

—alongside, alongside—in recent years. Although the bill has been in development since 2010 officially, Grant informs me that his first consultation with a key stakeholder on this bill goes back as far as 2001, when there was another MP in place at the time and when the idea that he might become the MP for Wellington Central was merely a glint in Mr Robertson’s eye.

Most of all, however, I want to congratulate the people of Wellington. Whether you were heavily involved with this as a city councillor or as an officer or as someone who was involved with a local community organisation that made a submission on the bill, or whether you are a Wellingtonian who had nothing to do with the bill at all—you may occasionally use the town belt, perhaps quite infrequently, but gazing out upon it often—congratulations on the passage of this bill, which does secure the future of the town belt and its expansion and its health and its good management into the future. I think it is terrific that we are passing this bill, and I am delighted that the Green Party is able to support it.

Given that this is a debate, I do want to debate a few points from an earlier speech given by another Wellington-based MP, Mr Paul Foster-Bell, who I think painted an interesting picture of why it was that clause 23 was swapped out from the original bill and replaced, so that it would be subject to the Public Works Act. I think that Wellingtonians will be delighted to learn from Mr Paul Foster-Bell that the Government’s changes to clause 23 were entirely because of the probability that at some point in the future, in an emergency, we will need to string some electricity lines over to the Wellington Regional Hospital and they had nothing to do at all with the Government’s intention to put a seven-lane motorway along the Ruahine Street side of the town belt. I am sure that Wellingtonians will also be delighted to learn that the Government’s changes to clause 23 were entirely because of the submission from the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, and had nothing to do at all with the Government’s intention to put a seven-lane motorway through the Ruahine Street side of the Wellington town belt. It was a disingenuous point and, as my colleague Gareth Hughes said earlier, one weakly made.

The town belt is a huge asset in the natural capital of Wellington, and I think we can look at it as if it was just a patch of land cloaked in green, surrounding the city, but it is so much more than that. It is a huge part of the natural capital that makes Wellington what it is. It adds to our social capital. It makes Wellington what Sir Paul Callaghan called “a place where talent wants to live”. It is an absolute delight to be able to stand in support of the bill as it makes its final way through the House. I commend this bill to the House. Thank you.

I call Meka Whaitiri—5 minutes.

Tēnā koe, Mr Assistant Speaker. E ngā mema o Te Whare nei, tēnā tātou katoa. In late August 1974, as a 9-year-old, I travelled with my uncle, leaving the metropolis of Gisborne called Manutuke, to Wellington to spend some time with my older cousin, a former member of Parliament for Te Tai Tonga, a former representative rugby player for Wellington, one of the Māori All Blacks, and a member of the All Blacks. His name was Tūtekawa Wyllie, or informally known as Tū Wyllie.

💬 Ron Mark: A good New Zealand First MP.

And, of course, a member of New Zealand First. It was on that trip that I got the opportunity to attend a lot of his rugby practices with the Wellington rep team. I have got to say that the people whom he played with—Stu Wilson, Bernie Fraser, Allan Hewson, and Paul Quinn—were almost the All Blacks back line. I recall attending one of his practices at the old Macalister Park. When his practice was concluded—back in those days we had what were called carless days—Tū, I, and his partner at the time, Margaret, returned to their home in Brooklyn via the park behind Macalister Park.

I share that story because it has a couple of significant milestones for me. First and foremost, it was my first visit to Wellington. It started a passion that meant I knew I would come back and reside here. I ended up living here continuously for 7 months short of 25 years. Secondly, sport. I was a proud representative netball player for Wellington for many, many years, along with my colleague Louisa Wall, and represented this country. Thirdly, it got me into the very place that is the subject of this bill, which I am pleased is passing through this House, which is the Wellington town belt. Not only did I go through that part of Wellington up to Brooklyn but there would be many suburbs in my 25-year association with Greater Wellington that I am proud have helped me in terms of exercising but also recreational sport. I am talking mainly about places like Boundary Road, where the botanical gardens are; parts of Highbury; and, of course, just today—I get up when I can get up—I travelled up to the Mount Victoria walkway. It is something that I like to enjoy before I head into this place of Parliament.

I am pleased and proud that, finally, the Wellington Town Belt Bill is getting passed to protect the very thing that many—not only Wellingtonians but all New Zealanders—have come to appreciate, which is the Government’s protection and modernisation arrangements for the Wellington town belt.

Those members who have spoken previously have talked about the important parts of the bill. Can I please, in the time that we have available, talk about the preamble. I think the preamble is an innovative way in which we tell our colonial history through legislation. To those who had the foresight to include the whakataukī and also acknowledge the mana whenua, the tangata whenua, can I mihi to you all. As a former Treaty negotiator, I say that we have some rich history, both good and bad, but it is a history that is, none the less, our history and it needs to be told. So I want to acknowledge the people who were behind the foresight in the preamble and the whakataukī, and the acknowledgment of the mana whenua.

There has been a lot of acknowledgment of people’s efforts in presenting this bill. I too want to join in acknowledging those who put the bill together. There was mention of former MP Marian Hobbs. I want to acknowledge the Wellington City Council, the staff of the Wellington City Council, the Local Government and Environment Committee—which I am proudly a member of—and all the staff who support us and the officials.

But I too want to join with our deputy leader, the Hon Annette King, in acknowledging the role of our colleague here, Grant Robertson, for persevering and, finally, 8 years later, getting this bill across the line. The way in which he has got all members and all parties across the House to support the bill is testament to Grant’s resolve to see this bill pass. I do not have much more to add, but I say congratulations to Grant and to all the city councillors on seeing this bill pass its third reading. I commend the bill to the House.

It gives me great pleasure to speak for the first time on this bill. I am very pleased to support it. Like the previous speaker, Meka Whaitiri, I will also reflect on some of the experiences that I have had in the town belt. But, first of all, I would like to reflect on the aesthetics of the town belt. We all fly into Wellington regularly, and on a blue-sky day, coming across the—is it a horseshoe-shaped harbour, or is it a lagoon-shaped harbour? What is the shape of the harbour? It is a beautiful, round harbour.

💬 Scott Simpson: A crescent moon.

It is a crescent moon harbour. It is framed by a U-shaped, rather than horseshoe-shaped—

💬 Dr Megan Woods: This is a debating point, surely.

It must be a debating point. I am going to call it a U-shaped green belt. You are absolutely right—it is a debatable point. When one looks at a map, it is not quite U-shaped. It is a bit of a mishmash. But let us just agree—

💬 Scott Simpson: A horseshoe shape.

It is more or less a horseshoe shape. Coming across and landing at Wellington Airport is always a pleasure on a blue-sky day, and, as we know, on a windy day, which is often the case, it is maybe not such a pleasure.

Can I say that the aesthetics of the town belt are something to be cherished. I would also like to reflect on the fact that this is maybe not a unique situation but certainly an unusual situation, where a community can add green space to an already green space—the addition of 120-odd hectares in a capital city of the world. It must be quite an unusual situation that we find ourselves in.

I would also like to reflect on and acknowledge a few people. To start with I would just like to mention John Ward, who was the secretary of New Zealand Company and who had the foresight to set up what was a 1,500-odd acre town belt. He said at the time that it should be “public property on condition that no buildings be ever erected upon it”. Of course, with hindsight we now know that that was not the case. Nevertheless, that man had huge foresight, really, in understanding that this was going to be a major city—not the capital at the time, but a significant city—and that green space was important. Green space was important for the social make-up and benefit of the community.

So, reflecting on that man’s foresight, at this point I would like to acknowledge Grant Robertson’s foresight and acknowledge his initiative to ensure that the Wellington town belt is protected, managed, and enhanced. That is what this bill does—it secures the town belt. I suggest that that foresight is similar to, and reflects, the same sort of foresight that John Ward had so long ago, back in the day—there is no date; you will have to help me out here—probably in 1871 or so. So it is a very unique and unusual situation that we have, and thanks to Mr Robertson’s foresight we are here today at the third reading of this bill.

I did not really appreciate the town belt as a teenager. I was a student at Wellington College back in the day, and was using that town belt regularly—

💬 Grant Robertson: What for?

Well, we had an unusual physical education teacher. His name—

💬 Grant Robertson: It’s getting better.

Well, he was unusual in that he created a whole lot of cross-country champions out of Wellington College and, believe me, I was not one of those cross-country champions. His name was Brien McCrea. He was also unusual in that he was a founding member of the Bulldogs Allstar Goodtime Band.

💬 Hon Jo Goodhew: Really?

Absolutely. He was a tough guy—he always carried a cane around with him. He made us run from Wellington College down to the Basin Reserve, all the way along Adelaide Road and up Riddiford Street and Constable Street—which meant that we were then back in the green belt of Mount Victoria—and then along Alexandra Park and back down what we called the gut-buster. It was called the gut-buster, and it cut through, right between, Wellington College and Wellington East Girls’ College. If you know the place, it is a really steep climb going in reverse—which is what you got if you argued with the guy. You had to climb this thing called the gut-buster.

Of course, I did not know that I was walking across quite a unique green piece of dirt—this piece of dirt, this town belt—which, until today, was at risk. It was at risk of continuing to be eroded by those people who had managed the town belt since the early days of John Ward. So that is one of the things that I participated in in the town belt.

Of course, there is always the top of Mount Victoria. How many of you are going to admit to being parked up in a car at the top of Mount Victoria at sunset? How many people are going to admit to that? It is beautiful sight, and with a special person in a car at the top of Mount Victoria, looking out across Wellington City at sunset, you cannot beat it. Again, this whole experience is now protected because of the actions and initiative of Mr Robertson. So for generations people can continue to enjoy the Mount Victoria green belt, whether it is in the day, when running, or whether it is in the evening in a special place with a special person—

💬 Todd Muller: In a special car.

—in a special car. The other part that is often used—it is not part of the town belt, but it may as well be—is, of course, Wellington Botanic Garden. That is a place where a lot of people get a lot of use—not the same use, but a lot of use—a lot of cultural use, a lot of reflection, and a lot of exercise. I am not going to ask for a show of hands of those who go running through any part of the green belt at a regular time, but Meka Whaitiri has mentioned that she uses it a lot. I use the botanical gardens and the Thorndon hill. It is a fantastic place to exercise, and it is really not very far from here, members. Let us hope that this bill encourages us all to participate and use the facility that is right on our doorsteps.

It is a wonderful place—it is a wonderful place—and I will continue to use the time that I have to promote it and to exude the enthusiasm that I have for this fabulous place, this fabulous town belt, and this fabulous city. The framing of it does accentuate it—I mean, just imagine. It is a beautiful colour when you are looking from here. How many of us have sat somewhere in this building looking out across the Thorndon hill and seen the contrasting deep green colours of the native trees and the darker colour of the pine with the beautiful blue of Wellington’s sky, which only Wellington—only Wellington—can produce on one of those blue-sky days.

It seems that we have had endless days like this—is it endless days—when one has been able to enjoy this town belt. I cannot count on two hands—it is more than two hands’ worth—the times that I have enjoyed the town belt this summer and this early autumn, going into winter. On a winter’s day it is tough to enjoy, but I will continue to use it, and on the back of that final comment, thank you, Mr Robertson, for your contribution. I commend this bill to the House.

It is absolutely my pleasure to take a call on the Wellington Town Belt Bill, and to say, what else really is there left to say about this piece of legislation? Clearly, for the member Alastair Scott, who has just sat down, the Wellington town belt is a very special place for him, and I think we will leave it at that.

As tempted as I am to get drawn into the debate about whether this is a horseshoe-shaped or a U-shaped piece of land, I really have only one thing to say, and that is to commend the local member of Parliament for Wellington Central, Grant Robertson, for his endurance in bringing this bill to the House and to echo Labour’s support for the Wellington Town Belt Bill. Thank you.

E Te Mana Whakawā, ā, e mihi atu ana ki a koutou katoa huri noa i Te Whare nei, tēnā koutou.

[Mr Assistant Speaker, acknowledgments to you all throughout this House, and thank you.]

It is my pleasure to be able to be the last speaker on the Wellington Town Belt Bill, and to also acknowledge those who did a lot of work, particularly through the Local Government and Environment Committee. This particular piece of land will shortly, with the final reading, be put into law to be protected in a lot of ways.

I want to start off first by acknowledging the tangata whenua, which has already been done before, but I think it is important in the final speech because it is the beginning and also an important part of the finish. The whakataukī “Tumutumu parea, rākau parea, whānui te ara ki a Tāne”, which opens the preamble of this bill, was uttered by the Te Atiawa chief Te Wharepōuri Te Kakapi-o-Te-Rangi when he observed the arrival of the New Zealand Company ship, the Tory. The translation, pretty much, is “ward off post and weapon, so that the expansive path of mankind is opened up”. This is about the journey of life, overcoming obstacles and issues and focusing on the main tasks at hand. This is an important part of this bill, particularly because it is an important part of that preamble.

As we know, the New Zealand Company’s dealings with Te Atiawa and local iwi proved to be deceitful, and the Crown provided little assistance as well. One of the things that the Crown and the Company did between them was to reserve this large town belt between the planned urban and rural areas of Wellington. This was done originally with no compensation for, or even consultation with, Māori. But the breaches of the Treaty that occurred within the environs of Wellington City have now been settled with Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika and Ngati Toa Rangatira.

I want to acknowledge the instigator of this bill, Grant Robertson, because during the select committee process there was very, very good and excellent engagement, actually, with the questions that were asked about the Port Nicholson settlement and how it affected tangata whenua. Also in the redress of those settlements there was the acknowledgment of the special relationship of mana whenua, particularly around some of those areas of the town belt. I think the important thing too was that the place names were also changed, including that area of the town belt that rises behind Parliament now known as Te Ahumairangi Hill. Mana whenua had an interest and a relationship with areas that now make up the Wellington town belt well before the New Zealand Company arrived. That has been recognised in previous settlements, and particularly through this bill.

What was very clear in the submissions process we undertook on the Local Government and Environment Committee was that the town belt has also come to mean a lot to the residents of Wellington. Generations of Wellingtonians have enjoyed the botanic gardens, the many recreational activities available, and the natural beauty of other reserves and walks in the town belt. It is appropriate that this area continues to be managed and administered by the Wellington City Council on behalf of the people of Wellington.

Other parts of this bill, particularly around the legal status of the Wellington town belt, which has in some ways never been entirely clear—and with that has come some of the uncertainty about how protected the town belt actually is and the authority of the council that manages it on behalf of Wellingtonians. This bill, to me and to us all, provides that certainty that is definitely needed.

It replaces the Wellington (City) Town Belt Reserves Act 1908 and the Wellington City Exhibition Grounds Act 1959. It provides one principal source of the council’s powers in relation to the town belt. It also clarifies the legal status of land that is not currently part of the town belt but is managed as if it was. Under this bill, there are 400 hectares of town belt and the further space of 130 hectares that is managed as if it is the official town belt, or part of it.

The interesting thing about this bill and the important thing about it is that it modernises how the town belt is managed by the Wellington City Council. The council must adopt a management plan. I think this is important because it will futureproof and give assurances about the ongoing management of the town belt through this bill. So what we see is that it will adopt the management plan and review it. I think this is important. The town plan is reviewed every 10 years. Also what that includes is a public submissions process, so you have that real kotahitaka going on, or that collectiveness between the council and also the Wellington ratepayers.

The other part is that there are also wider consultation provisions that apply when the council seeks to build or extend the structures, imposes charges, grants leases and consents, or adds land to the town belt. In relation to leases, one of the changes that came out during the submissions, which I think was really interesting—it was a recommendation by the select committee in the end and was agreed to by this House—was to put a limit on the leases that may be granted within the town belt Again, it is a certainty around futureproofing. The council may grant leases on no more than 8 hectares in total of the town belt, which is another excellent way of protecting it.

For me, this is a sensible limit that allows some third-party use of areas within the town belt but ensures that no future council could allow more than this small percentage of town belt land to be occupied. In looking at all of that, the council is also required to direct any moneys earned from the leases on the town belt towards contributing to management costs, which, again, is about ensuring that not only is it protected and managed properly but there are revenue streams to ensure that it is ably managed. I think the other part is that the council has also limited the business activities within the town belt. This received, particularly through the chamber of commerce—actually, this was an interesting part of the submission process.

In saying all of that, I want to close by just saying well done to the Wellington City Council for recognising the need for clarification of the status of this land and the modernisation of the management regime. I want to also acknowledge the many Wellingtonians who took an interest in the process and made submissions to the select committee. These are so important, not only in this bill but in every bill that comes before a select committee—the submitters are a really important part of it. Also I want to acknowledge Grant Robertson, the MP for Wellington Central, because it was Mr Robertson, as we have heard before from many speakers, who shepherded this bill through the House on behalf of his local council.

The Wellington town belt is a unique and distinguishing feature of this city. To me, and to all of us, it is the pūkahukahu o te pā—it is the lungs of the city. It really does, truly, need to be protected, and this bill will do that. On that note, kia ora also to those councillors who are here in the gallery—e mihi atu ki a koutou—and I have no hesitation in commending this bill to the House. Kia ora.

Bill read a third time.