Editorial: Wellington struggling to shake its broken image

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Workers repairing a burst water pipe on Jervois Quay in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell
EDITORIAL

Amid pipes bursting, bars closing, aged infrastructure struggling to cope with torrential downpours and the Prime Minister calling out wasteful council spending – Wellington’s had a week to
forget.

The mantra that Wellington’s “dying” is not new. As broadcaster Duncan Garner recently pointed out, Sir John Key claimed that back in 2013. Garner believes it now too, writing “our capital is in a state of rapid demise and general malaise, the speed of which has been a shock”.
Perhaps not a shock to those living in Wellington.
For several summers now, capital residents have faced the threat of water shortages due to thousands of leaks in the city’s pipe network. Last summer there was talk of a state of emergency being declared, with 44% of the city’s drinking water being lost to leaks.
Last week, as mayors and councillors from around the country gathered at a local government conference, a new leak sprung ‘round the corner, knocking out water to surrounding businesses and homes.
The timing couldn’t have been more divine for Prime Minister Chris Luxon and his pre-prepared speech decrying wasteful spending and warning councils to get back to fixing the basics.
Five days later the region found itself flooded, with an antiquated water network unable to cope with bursts of heavy rain.
People were urged to stay out of floodwaters as wastewater overflowed; toilet paper was seen bubbling out of one manhole on to a walkway.
Wellington Water itself acknowledged it wasn’t just rainfall that was to blame for the flooding.
“It’s important to remember that the region’s wastewater network is ageing, and heavy rainfall can overwhelm the network. Overflows help to minimise the risk of wastewater entering properties and reduce public health risks,” it said in a statement during Monday’s deluge.
People were urged to work from home and stay off the roads, further reducing footfall for businesses struggling to attract customers.
Last week it was two Courtenay Place bars announcing their closure. This week, it was revealed the opening of a major new music venue is delayed – announced just days before home-grown stars Drax Project were set to take to the stage.
Meow Nui has capacity for 1000 people, a similar size to Auckland’s Powerstation, and was supposed to open tomorrow night. It’s not clear when it will now open.
It’s not all doom and gloom, of course; also confirmed this week was the year’s biggest land deal. A parcel of land near Wellington Airport sold for $105 million to the city’s most famous residents – Sir Peter Jackson and his wife Dame Fran Walsh.
It’s no secret the pair have been looking for a location for their long-talked-about movie museum. They’ve slowly been buying land around the newly purchased site.
Whatever plans they have can only be good for a city struggling to rebrand itself from the highs of Lord of the Rings and the Wellington Jackson era.
Perhaps the film-maker also has another Hollywood blockbuster up his sleeve to turn attention away from broken infrastructure and a struggling economy towards a city with a future.
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