Vote 1. for Edward Griffiths.

Let me work for you.

“Edward Griffiths, a practical voice for Wellington.”

The Pukehīnau/Lambton Ward by-election will be held from 26 January to 17 February 2023 by postal ballot. Vote 1. for Edward Griffiths.

Why I’m standing

I am passionate about Wellington and have a strong connection to this city having lived here most of my life, much of it in the central city.

I have seen the highs and lows of Pōneke and want the opportunity as your councillor to work towards bringing out the best of our city. I have a diverse background in creative project and programme management in government and private enterprise. I have the skills, knowledge and attitude to meaningfully represent the needs of Wellingtonians on the council.

I believe in representing and empowering our voters and giving our people a true voice on council. I want to work collaboratively with our communities, constructively with the council staff and build consensus within the council to produce meaningful outcomes.

Let me work for you.

Living in Wellington

I have lived and worked in Wellington for most of my life. Growing up in York Bay and going to school in Eastbourne. I returned after university to work, finding my calling in adult education. I found my calling in empowering people with knowledge. Giving them the tools to get started with confidence. This has been my passion for the past 20 years in many different fields. From growing our youth, supporting the rehabilitation of prisoners, supporting the Christchurch rebuild, creating safe and secure environments, developing our frontline workers over COVID, and more recently supporting the development of our government agencies including central bankers and treasurers to make the big decisions that drive our economy.

My life is entwined with Wellington. My friends, teammates, family and colleagues live here and my two beautiful children have been raised in the centre of the city in an apartment on Cuba street.

I would like to see our city embrace our slogan of Absolutely Positively Wellington. Yeah, its cheesy but it sure beats the growing perception that its all just too hard to fix.

My policies

Check out the FAQ!

I really care about what we do and how we do it. I’m not here to drive politics, I will seek to find consensus for good evidence-based ideas and sensible solutions wherever they come from.’

The topics below are things I feel strongly about. I believe you will too. I don’t have all the answers but I will work to find the solutions.

I will focus on the core issues Wellington needs to address to be a great place to live and work. I believe in working collaboratively to take on the significant decisions facing us.

Water

I am extremely concerned that we have allowed our water infrastructure to become so degraded that Wellingtonians are being asked to hoard significant, often impossible, amounts of water so we don’t run out all because over 40% of our water is wasted.

There is no cheap or easy fix to decades of under-resourcing and this problem is not going away.

I would push for appropriate and innovative responses in the Long Term Plan about to be considered by the council so that Wellingtonians don’t run out.

Buildings

Wellington is in the midst of a building crisis.

Many of our most beloved buildings are considered earthquake prone and sit unoccupied or under threat. Businesses cannot function and people live in uncertainty.

Progress on resolving this is frozen by unhelpful and changing rules, red tape, and bottlenecks.

We need to resolve this situation to unlock Wellington’s potential.

Transportation

Wellington’s tight, steep and winding streets are part of our cities character.

Our city centre and our main thoroughfares however are a constant gridlock of roadworks, traffic cones and difficult or dangerous intersections. Roads are the essential arteries of a well functioning city and ours our dangerously clogged.

As a cyclist myself I know we need to keep ALL our road users safe however, I remain unconvinced about the approach taken which is massively over-engineered, expensive and ignores the needs of other road users.

Recreation

With two energetic kids and as a local sports fanatic myself, I love the range of indoor and outdoor recreation spaces available. I want to help make sure they continue to be available, safe and welcoming for our people.

I have also seen dingy alleyways turned into works of art, gravel wastelands become sound stages or derelict sites turned into community gardens.

I want to see more of this energy and innovation unleashed.

I want to invite our local artists, groups and communities to take ownership for some of their ‘problem areas’ and turn them into character spaces that we can be proud of.

Wellington by Wellingtonians

I want this city to be by and of Wellingtonians.

How can we partner with our amazing, engaged and creative communities to empower them to take pride in their areas?
How can the council better engage with the people of Wellington?
How can we make our services more visible and accessible to people?
How can we support our local business to unleash our innovation?

I want a Wellington for everyone and the chance to be part of making sure our council represents ALL people of Wellington.

Let me work for you.

Learn more in the FAQ