Lindsay Shelton

Wellington Editor at Scoop

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Articles

“A runway to the mayoralty”

1 month ago | wellington.scoop.co.nz | Lindsay Shelton

by Lindsay SheltonThere seemed to be no doubt about why Tory Whanau gave up her ambition to be mayor of Wellington for a second term. The Green mayoral candidate spelled out her change of mind in the NZ Herald: “Now having Andrew Little in the race, I’ve decided I’d like to step aside to give him a clear runway to win the mayoralty.”And more:“I don’t want this mayoral campaign to be about Labour versus Green, progressive versus progressive. That’s not what it should be about.
Apologies, but no one is responsible?

2 months ago | wellington.scoop.co.nz | Lindsay Shelton

by Lindsay SheltonNot much attention was paid in February when the Wellington City Council released a report about Wellington Water. The council accepted the findings of the report. Wellington Water rejected them. Which should have been a warning of what was to come. Published on the city council’s website on February 1, there is a fairly restrained summary of the report which was commissioned by the council from an organisation named FieldForce4.
The street without a name

Feb 16, 2025 | wellington.scoop.co.nz | Lindsay Shelton

by Lindsay SheltonThe sign at the end of our street (and its pole) disappeared in September. I wrote to the Wellington City Council, but six months later they haven’t been able to replace it. I started corresponding with the council in September. I didn’t think I was asking for anything complicated. I sent my first reminder to the council, on September 27:Please advise when the missing street sign for Connaught Terrace, at the intersection with Washington Avenue in Brooklyn, will be replaced.
Losses, costs and targets

Jan 30, 2025 | wellington.scoop.co.nz | Lindsay Shelton

by Lindsay SheltonIn terms of core activities, organising exhibitions from overseas is hardly something you’d expect the Wellington City Council to do. And the fact that two of its exhibitions have lost money should come as no surprise. The council doesn’t have entrepreneurial skills. We learnt this week that the third exhibition at Takina, Dr Who, had lost money.
Transformation vs unaffordability

Jan 14, 2025 | wellington.scoop.co.nz | Lindsay Shelton

by Lindsay SheltonThere’s not a word about rates increases in the Mayor’s new year message. Instead she talks about momentum, transformational changes, and revitalising the city centre “with new life and energy.” She also promises, in yesterday’s message, that there’ll be “an influx of customers” in Courtenay Place once the roads and footpaths have been redesigned and cars and car parking have been removed. How does her council plan to create this influx?
Contempt for expertise

Dec 4, 2024 | wellington.scoop.co.nz | Lindsay Shelton

by Lindsay SheltonThe New York Times has this weekend come up with the phrase “contempt for expertise.” It could well be applied to the demolitionists at the Wellington City Council, who decided on Thursday to demolish the city to sea bridge, though reports from consultants did not show that this was necessary.
Are they cuts? Or something vaguer?

Nov 26, 2024 | wellington.scoop.co.nz | Lindsay Shelton

by Lindsay SheltonWhat budget cuts did the Wellington City Council make yesterday? The mayor released a list, but look more closely and she says it’s a list of projects that are “proposed to be cut, rephased or rescoped.”What does that mean? Which ones on the list are being cut? Which ones are being rephased or rescoped? What happens if the council “rescopes” a project? And most importantly, how much money is being saved by the decisions made by the council yesterday?
The mayor’s underwhelming list

Nov 5, 2024 | wellington.scoop.co.nz | Lindsay Shelton

by Lindsay SheltonThe mayor’s list of possible savings, necessary for the revised Long Term Plan, has not been received well. Back on October 21, she promised a “fast moving process” to amend the Long Term Plan. Depends how you define “fast moving.” It wasn’t till yesterday that she came up with a list of possible cuts to council spending. The list is underwhelming. Made up almost entirely of small savings, it’s not enough to reach the total that is needed.
Yellow stickered for its centenary

Oct 18, 2024 | wellington.scoop.co.nz | Lindsay Shelton

by Lindsay SheltonThe Wellington City Council is celebrating the centenary of the Embassy Theatre in Courtenay Place, at the same time as it is categorising the heritage cinema as “earthquake prone,” with yellow stickers which carry a confusion of conflicting messages.
The mayor’s changing lists

Oct 14, 2024 | wellington.scoop.co.nz | Lindsay Shelton

by Lindsay SheltonThe mayor’s stance has kept changing since the vote to stop her council selling its shares in Wellington Airport. Let’s track her four different statements. On the day that the council voted against selling the shares, she issued a formal statement in which she didn’t mention the spending cuts ($400m – $600m) which staff insist are necessary.