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Monique Ford / Stuff
Wellington City Councilwoman Rebecca Matthews says city council must take on the challenges of housing, transportation, infrastructure and a people-friendly downtown.
Wellington City Councilwoman Rebecca Matthews says Wellington is losing its “mojo”, an ironic situation considering the city has “roughly 1 million Mojos”.
Matthews tweeted the comment along with a Things article highlighting the concerns of young professionals about the city’s ability to attract and retain skilled workers.
The concerns were raised by people between the ages of 25 and 40 who work in technology, engineering, law and accounting firms in the central city of Wellington.
Their comments were delivered to the Wellington City Council business advisory group and formed the basis of a report sent to local councilors and MPs over the weekend.
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Matthews, the first-term councilor who holds the council’s community welfare associate portfolio, tweeted her support for the findings Monday.
“I’d be the first to say that Wellington is losing its mojo (which is ironic since we have approx. [sic] a million Mojos), ”said Matthews, referring to the large number of Mojo cafes in the city.
“From the council’s perspective, we must address these challenges: housing, transportation, infrastructure and a people-friendly central business district.”
Matthews’ comments were supported by many others on Twitter, including Tom Mitchell, one of 19 people who provided comments for the report during a breakfast with the business group in September.
The group is made up of representatives from the business sector, Mayor Andy Foster and Councilor Diane Calvert.
“As a spokesperson for some of the most incendiary quotes in this report, I assure you all that the actual breakfast was much more tense and terrible than was reported,” Mitchell said.
The report raised significant concerns about a shortage of quality and affordable housing in the city, as well as dilapidated infrastructure and a lack of job opportunities.
Many others reacted to the findings on Twitter on Monday, and most agreed with the report.
“All the artisan fried chicken, craft beer, and art galleries in the world can’t make up for moldy ‘heritage’ rentals, unaffordable houses, no buses, trains that stop every week, and one, tip not to do. nothing, “read a post.
Another said: “I loved the Wellington I moved to in 2008. What we have now in 2020 just annoys me. Wellington is home, but they are forcing me out. “
ROSS GIBLIN / THINGS
Wellington City Council needs to find up to $ 5 billion to repair and build water infrastructure over the next 30 years.
One person said that rental costs were the “number one push factor” driving people out of town, while another said that “kicking in homes and infrastructure can have consequences for decades.”
Calvert, who helped establish the advisory group, was more diplomatic in her summary of the report, tweeting that the “pure gold” feedback would help shape the future of the city.
He also said that in the session with the professionals it was clear that the city still had a “soul.”
“The young people described very real and tangible problems and we will include them in the economic growth plan that we are currently developing. We have to make sure that the city offers a strong job market, good quality of life and is affordable in a post-Covid world. “
Co-author Brad Olsen, a senior economist at consultancy Infometrics, said there was “a lot of work Wellington can do” to attract and retain talent.
Wellington attorney and novelist Brannavan Gnanalingam said Things the report reflected the comments he had been hearing from young lawyers.
“Certainly, it is a fairly common opinion that the city is becoming considerably more unaffordable.
“People are losing the price of being able to live in the city, either because of rent or because of being able to pay for a house or an apartment.”
