Our objectives

This policy aims to enable, support, and promote opportunities to trade and hold events in our city’s public places. The objectives of this policy are to ensure that trading and events in Wellington’s public places:

• encourage vibrancy, diversity, and amenity
• maintain appropriate standards of public health, safety, and accessibility
• promote consistent and predictable access ways on footpaths
• minimise disruption to pedestrians
• protect the urban, heritage, and natural environment
• minimise the effects on private property and existing businesses.

This policy also aims to:

• ensure that costs are recovered from commercial activity on public land
• clearly outline the Council’s decision-making and approval process.

Summary of proposed changes

We are making recommendations to:

• Develop a Trading and Events in Public Places Policy that will include events held in public spaces.
• Revoke the current FMP and TPPP.
• Widen and future proof the policy scope.
• Ensure the value of trade and event activities in Wellington’s public places is recognised.
• Make the decision-making criteria for assessing approvals for activities in all public places and fee structures consistent across the Council.
• Develop a framework for assessing and approving licensed activity on reserves, city parks, and Wellington Town Belt, which meets legislative requirements and enables a proactive and positive approach.
• Identify and promote more public space trading sites, review licence periods, and invite Expressions of Interest when opportunities arise.
• Align accessibility requirements with national and international guidelines.
• Make sure all approvals are smokefree.
• Encourage and support community events by improving application and approval processes and website information.
• Encourage quality busking and street performance (including pavement art).
• Make information about street appeals and charity face-to-face fundraisers in public places publicly available.
• Require approval for activities that exclusively use of public space and/or have an impact on the land or other people using it, such as commercial group fitness, commercial tours, bulk bins, professional dog walking, pavement art, and commercial filming and photography.
• Provide guidelines for creative hoardings in public places.