Wellington business owner says Golden Mile plans are ‘atrocious’ and ‘disastrous’

Thursday, 13 February 2025

Businesses on Courtenay Place are ‘very concerned’ at Wellington City Council’s confirmed plans for the entertainment precinct.

The plans appeared to have taken a ‘build it and they will come philosophy’, one business owner says.

Another business owner says many businesses are just hanging on and he fears many will fail during the disruption caused by the project.

Two business owners on Wellington’s Courtenay Place are “very concerned” at the city council’s confirmed plans for the precinct, which they feel have been based on a build it and they will come philosophy, a business owner says

The council announced confirmation of the Golden Mile plans on Thursday, with the first works due to get under way in late April.

Those will be around the Cambridge Place intersection, at the eastern end of Courtenay Place, and are expected to take about eight months.

The bulk of the work on Courtenay Place is due to start when the intersection work is finished and take two years, but a contract for that has yet to be signed.

The work is part of Wellington City Council’s Golden Mile project, which also includes key retail street Lambton Quay.

The budget for the overall project is $116 million, with the cost shared between the council and the NZ Transport Agency.

Poorly designed

Karl Tiefenbacher, who owns gelato and coffee company Kaffee Eis, which has a store in Courtenay Place, is a staunch opponent of Golden Mile plan.

The plan announced by the council was “atrocious” and would be “disastrous”, he said.

“The reality is it’s just a poorly designed piece of work that is going to cost an absolute arm and a leg for some cosmetic changes.

Despite his opposition to the project, he thought improvements were needed to Courtenay Place. “We have been saying for years we want security cameras to make it safer.”

It also needed a good clean. “I can’t remember the last time it happened,” he said.

The Golden Mile project didn’t solve either of the key problems of safety, including the perception the area was not safe, and cleanliness. Businesses had been pleading to have something done about those for years.

“I think think this is the biggest bugbear. They’re going to spend four years on something that doesn’t fix the core issues.”

Very concerned

Jeremy Smith, coordinator of the Courtenay Precinct revitalisation group, said businesses were “very concerned” by the council’s announcement and its decision to go ahead with the project, for a “huge range” of reasons.

“Build it and they will come”

Some investment was needed, but businesses in the area were not convinced the design was fit for purpose. “It still seems to be very much a build it and they will come philosophy,” Smith said.

The plan still had a cycle lane on part of the footpath. “Why would you want a cycle lane on a pavement on that’s designed to be a pedestrian space.

“Having the cycle lane on the pavement means the ability to extend the outdoor areas of the businesses on that side of the street is restricted,” he said.

The two businesses he was involved with at the eastern end of Courtenay Pl - El Horno and Lulu - would end up having the same, or possibly less, outdoor space than they now had.

“I’m not sure how there’s a benefit if nothing has changed in the way we use the space in front of my business.”

He was unsure what the purpose was of park benches included in the design, or who was going to use them. “It’s a city street, not the waterfront.”

There was also no plan to help pay rent or other costs while work on the project prevented business from trading, or meant they had very disrupted trade.

The eight months of work planned for the intersection of Courtenay Pl and Cambridge Terrace, - due to start in late April - would not be a major disruption to most businesses.

Budget tight

The budget for the Golden Mile project was tight, Smith said. He was concerned about the risk of cost overruns, and questioned who would support businesses if work took longer than expected.

The council already had several “massive” projects under way. “Just so much on the go. Why start another disruptive infrastructure project?”

Business now was nowhere near where it had been pre-Covid. “All our trade has been pushed into really one day a week, Saturday being a big trading day,” Smith said.

“The rests of the week is dead. Fridays are half of what they used to be. Saturday is probably 20% down on 2019.

“There are fewer students, and student patterns have changed. Students go out less and drink less,” Smith said.

Fewer events were being hosted in Wellington, and the city was in “a bit of a funk”, meaning people were less likely to visit.

Push it through

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau told Stuff earlier this week the project had been a long time coming and she was thrilled to see it going ahead.

For Whanau, the Golden Mile project has been a long time coming. After a tumultuous end to 2024 and a narrow vote to keep the project, she is thrilled to see it going ahead.

“The feedback I’ve been getting, is there are some who don’t like it and some who are excited,” she said.

“Many businesses want a city where their employees can come and go easily, where they can easily access public transport, and you know, actually have a thriving hospitality scene.”

“If you ask anyone in Wellington whether Courtenay Place needs some work, they all say yes. So we have to be brave, we have to be bold, and we have to push this through.”