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Pedestrian evacuation routes in event of a natural disaster.

Roger Calkin made this Official Information request to Wellington City Council

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From: Roger Calkin

Dear Wellington City Council,

Under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 could you please answer the following.

I refer my LGOIM request and the response to this IRC9366

In your response you stated, "In the event of a major outage caused by a natural disaster, the waterfront lighting is low priority, as all generators would be required to sustain power in emergency departments (Civil Defence purposes only)".

Questions:

1. In the event of a natural disaster, like a significant earthquake for example, what are the planned safe pedestrian evacuation routes out of the CBD in the event that the streets are blocked by glass, fallen debris from damaged high rise building etc?

2. Would the Waterfont still be considered a "safe route" in this situation if the power was out for a considerable time?

3. in the absence of proper edge protection on the Wellington CBD Waterfront what is planned to keep people needing to use this route to evacuate the city safe?

Additionally in your response IRC9366 you state;

"There is no dedicated back up power systems to power the waterfront or lighting infrastructure in the event of a major power outage. Under the business continuity plan, if there is a loss of functionality of services on waterfront, a contractor would be engaged to restore power".

I would ask;
1. How long would it be anticipated that the waterfront lighting infrastructure would be down in the event of a major power outage?
2. What standards / time frames / and/or contractual obligations/expectations is your contractor required to meet to both respond, and to get the lighting systems fully functional again?
3. In the absence of proper edge protection, and in the event of loss of functionality of these lighting systems during a major power outage, what plans are in the business continuity plan to keep people safe in the drowning black spot that is the Wellington CBD waterfront area?

Yours faithfully,

Roger Calkin

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From: BUS: Official Information
Wellington City Council

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From: BUS: Official Information
Wellington City Council

Kia ora Roger,

Thank you for your email dated 17 December requesting information.

Our team will manage your request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).

Please note, the period 20 December 2025 to 10 January 2026 inclusive is not considered working days. The 20 working days allowed for your response will be on hold over this period and will continue again from 10 January 2026. As a result, we will respond as soon as possible but no later than 5 February 2026. You can read more about this on the Ombudsman website here: https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/agen...

The reference number for your request is IRC-9576

Please contact us if you have any further questions.

Kind regards,

Official Information & Privacy Team
Te Kaunihera o Pōneke | Wellington City Council
E [Wellington City Council request email] | W wellington.govt.nz

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-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Calkin <[FOI #33302 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 17 December 2025 11:27 am
To: BUS: Official Information <[Wellington City Council request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - Pedestrian evacuation routes in event of a natural disaster.

[You don't often get email from [FOI #33302 email]. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... ]

Dear Wellington City Council,

Under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 could you please answer the following.

I refer my LGOIM request and the response to this IRC9366

In your response you stated, "In the event of a major outage caused by a natural disaster, the waterfront lighting is low priority, as all generators would be required to sustain power in emergency departments (Civil Defence purposes only)".

Questions:

1. In the event of a natural disaster, like a significant earthquake for example, what are the planned safe pedestrian evacuation routes out of the CBD in the event that the streets are blocked by glass, fallen debris from damaged high rise building etc?

2. Would the Waterfont still be considered a "safe route" in this situation if the power was out for a considerable time?

3. in the absence of proper edge protection on the Wellington CBD Waterfront what is planned to keep people needing to use this route to evacuate the city safe?

Additionally in your response IRC9366 you state;

"There is no dedicated back up power systems to power the waterfront or lighting infrastructure in the event of a major power outage. Under the business continuity plan, if there is a loss of functionality of services on waterfront, a contractor would be engaged to restore power".

I would ask;
1. How long would it be anticipated that the waterfront lighting infrastructure would be down in the event of a major power outage?
2. What standards / time frames / and/or contractual obligations/expectations is your contractor required to meet to both respond, and to get the lighting systems fully functional again?
3. In the absence of proper edge protection, and in the event of loss of functionality of these lighting systems during a major power outage, what plans are in the business continuity plan to keep people safe in the drowning black spot that is the Wellington CBD waterfront area?

Yours faithfully,

Roger Calkin

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