Appropriate Use

Ever since the Town Belt was set aside, the question of its appropriate use has been a matter of controversy.

Former Town Belt land has taken for hospitals, schools, Victoria University, compensation to Maori, housing and roads built to link the original city with outer suburbs (see also Regaining lost land ).

Town Belt land has been used for:

• Timber and firewood extraction from the original forest by the early settlers;
• Grazing for town milk supply up to the 1930s;
• Quarrying of clay to supply brickworks, mainly parts of Mt Victoria, Tinakori Hill and Polhill Gully;
• Public botanical and zoological gardens and tree planting;
• Community gardens in the Depression, WWII and, currently, for approved community groups;
• Military and defence uses;
• Roads;
• Refuse sites in several gullies, which were later converted to parks;
• Parks, sports grounds and a golf links;
• Buildings for sporting activities and public toilets;
• Wellington Show Association;
• Reservoirs and pumping stations sited on Town Belt hilltops.

Wellington’s founders set aside the Town Belt in 1840 as land for the enjoyment of the citizens of Wellington and not to be built upon. The subsequent 1873 Town Belt Deed stated that the land:

• was “to be forever hereafter used and appropriated as a public Recreation ground”;
• could be used for “purposes of public utility to the City of Wellington”;
• could not be crossed by any thoroughfare.

People’s views as to what is appropriate have changed over time, alongside changing social trends and Wellington’s growth. Activities now considered appropriate are outlined in the Town Belt Management Plan.

The Friends consider that the spirit of the founders’ intentions should be adhered to as much as possible.

• Free public access available on the majority of Town Belt land;
• No more development of facilities for use by private groups;
• Town Belt land should be valued primarily as green open space and not regarded as ‘spare’ land for large buildings or parking areas, whether or not such facilities are for recreational use.