Media release from Simon Marsh
Simon “Swampy” Marsh is stepping down as a Wellington City Councillor after nine years representing the Eastern Ward. “I have always lived by the mantra that you move on from something while you are still on top of it” Marsh said. “Nine years is long enough, the role of Councillor should not be a job for life. This city deserves a continual refresh of ideas and faces from within council, it’s time for a change.” Read more »

Press Release – Business Central – Wellington
The Wellington region business community will lose two key advocates when regional councillor Ian McKinnon and city councillor Simon ‘Swampy’ Marsh step down at the local body elections, says the Chamber of Commerce. Read more »

Press Release – Wellington Chamber of Commerce
The Wellington Chamber of Commerce is encouraging Wellingtonians to consider standing in the upcoming Local Government 2019 elections. Read more »

Wellington.Scoop
A packed public meeting last night heard a leading architect and a leading structural engineer insist that Wellington’s Central Library can be strengthened and reopened. And they estimated a cost considerably less than the $100million stated by Mayor Justin Lester at the weekend. Read more »

Media release from Justin Lester and Fleur Fitzsimons
Wellington Mayor Justin Lester and Councillor Fleur Fitzsimons are today releasing the Wellington Libraries Charter, outlining commitments and priorities for protecting the important role of libraries in our communities. Read more »

Wellington.Scoop
The election campaign has begun. In Wellington, not one but two new political parties say they’ll be naming candidates for the city council. And there’s an independent candidate challenging mayor Justin Lester. In Lower Hutt, Ray Wallace is being challenged for the mayoralty by Councillor Campbell Barry. And in Kapiti, Gwynn Compton has launched an active campaign full of specifics about how he would run the coastal community more effectively than Mayor K Gurunathan. Read more »

Press Release – Gwynn Compton
Kāpiti Coast mayoral candidate Gwynn Compton has unveiled an ambitious transport plan that would see Kāpiti’s communities better connected with each other as well as the rest of the Wellington region. Read more »

by Ben Schrader
A recent article by Ian Apperley and also a DomPost feature about Wellington’s general malaise suggests to me that the city is experiencing one of its periodic crises of confidence. These have been a feature of the city’s life since its colonial founding and have included the exodus of settlers after the 1848 earthquake, the 1932 Depression riots, and the botched 1990 sesquicentenary (when the city became a national laughing stock). Read more »

Report from RNZ
Wellington mayor Justin Lester says that if he gets another term in office, he will be pushing for a regional transport authority to take over public transport, parking, and roading. Read more »

Report from RNZ
Wellington mayor Justin Lester says that making the Central Library earthquake-safe could cost more than $100 million. Read more »