What we do

Every day we put all our energy into protecting and enhancing our region. 

We carefully balance sustainability with economic growth. Greater Wellington is a growing and diverse region, and it’s the council’s role to protect our environment while also meeting the cultural, social and economic needs of our communities. We’re specifically responsible for environment management, flood protection and land management, provision of regional parks, public transport planning and funding, and metropolitan water supply. Our role is to meet the current and future needs of communities with good-quality infrastructure and services in a way that is most cost effective for households and businesses. We are guided by legislation, including the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA) that also requires local authorities to be accountable and to ensure that their decision making processes are open to the influence and scrutiny of their communities.

It’s about dealing with today and planning for the future, especially with the challenges of climate change. Greater Wellington:

• Leads a regional response to climate change
• Provides and manages regional infrastructure and services including:
  • flood resilience assets to protect urban populations and productive rural land
  • management of regional parks
  • harbour management, navigation and safety
• Sustainably manages natural and physical resources (land, air, biodiversity and water).
• Controls pests to protect the resources on which our primary sector, export economy and quality of life are based. 
• Delivers Metlink public transport services across the region. We own the train fleet and maintain railway stations, bus and ferry shelters, signs, and Park & Ride facilities.
• Develops strategic plans for the region that meet relevant legislation, such as the Regional Policy Statement, the Regional Land Transport Plan and the Regional Pest Management Plan. Through the Wellington Regional Leadership Committee we endorsed the Future Development Strategy – the region’s spatial plan. 
• Supplies safe, high-quality drinking water to councils in Porirua, Wellington and the Hutt Valley for local distribution.