Daran Ponter, Chair of Greater Wellington

17/08/2026

Will you still have a regional park when there is a single unitary council, or will regional council functions be deprioritised in favour of the “sexy” stuff?

11/08/2026

Agree with Mayor Wayne Brown on this decision.

The Government has been extolling the virtues of spatial planning, with legislation soon to be introduced. These types of fast track decisions simply undermine planned and staged growth. It extends urban areas in an unplanned fashion that benefits one community only - property developers. It will leave huge costs for rate payers and taxpayer alike.

Time for a bright line decision - planned spatial planning for urban growth OR ad-hoc property developer-led growth. Time to get rid of the fast track for subdivisions.

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has lambasted the controversial 1200-home Delmore housing project getting fast-tracked, amid reported shortfalls.

Wayne Brown joined Heather du Plessis-Allan to explain that this goes against Watercare's future planning - as wastewater will need to be trucked out until at 2033 - and this will ultimately cost ratepayers more in the long run.

23/07/2026

And in New Zealand we’re running the other way. Shameful.

18/07/2026

Warriors v Dargons, Mt Smart. Buzzing supporters as always.

20/06/2026

Full trains home. Lots of happy campers. Thanks Metlink.

10/06/2026

Huge effort by today to get the back carriage (motorised) of the Matangi EMU back to the crossing at Station Road. Will be loaded by crane to a low loader tonight and taken back to the KiwiRail Hutt Workshops. First half of the train (non-motorised) will be hauled back to Station Road tomorrow.

10/06/2026

Great move for affordable public transport. Will likely require more investment in public transport vehicles and will need ro be supported with a more consistent line of funding for rail renewals and rail modernisation (including European Train Control System). Brilliant start.

The policy would cost about $65 million each year, using about 1 percent of the National Land Transport Fund, Labour said.

07/06/2026

The Khandallah train incident last night was concerning - a call that anyone in the industry dreads. Our thoughts at Greater Wellington / Metlink are with those on board and injured in this event. So very grateful there were no fatalities.

While the images of the Matangi train are very dramatic, both it and the track system did their job.

If a train passes a red signal at Khandallah, it is diverted to a runoff line to prevent any risk of collision with another train. At the end of this short section of runoff line is a stop block - basically a large concrete paperweight. The stop block’s job is to prevent the train travelling further - in this case down an embankment towards houses. The stop block did its job.

The carriages also appear to have responded as designed. The Matangi units are modern trains designed with a crumple zone to absorb impact - in this case the impact with the stop block. Those crumple zones have absorbed impact which may otherwise have resulted in fatalities.

Independent investigators from the Tranoort Accident investigation Authority (TAIC) were on scene last night and have continued their investigation through the day.. The facts will be determined by TAIC and made public as is appropriate.

The line is likely to be out of action until Wednesday/Thursday this week. Once initial investigations are completed the train will be pulled back to Khandallah Station and hauled out by road.

Finally, big shout out to KiwiRail, Transdev Australia & New Zealand, -Rotem,
Wellington Free Ambulance. New Zealand Police, Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington / Metlink staff for fast responses to this incident. You know Wellington is a Village when people drop what they are doing to help out.

"Munted" is how one onlooker has described the mangled remains of the train that crashed on Wellington's Johnsonville line.

Full story ⬇

06/05/2026

I’m thrilled Metlink passengers can now pay fares with bank cards and mobile devices 💳📱 It makes hopping on trains and buses even easier and helps us get ready for the National Ticketing Solution.

Mobile validators for train staff to check passengers have tagged on with bank cards and mobile devices are coming soon. Please remember to tag on and off – fare evasion is illegal, and staff may be checking at stations 👀🚉

29/04/2026

New Masterton train facility announced. This is the modern train maintenance facility which will be constructed for the maintenance of all Tuhono hybrid trains.