Wide-ranging redundancies proposed at the Wellington City Council

Wellington mayor Andrew Little’s office said the matter was operational and not for his office to comment on.

The council in late 2025 released a $435,000 report done by Deloitte which claimed the organisation had 330 surplus staff.

The PSA called it a “slash and burn” document that made assumptions and was not based on actual data.

Councillor Geordie Rogers, discovered the council had counted vacant jobs, meaning more than 50 empty jobs were in the total count.

A council statement said the last annual plan identified $31.7 million in order to reduce forecast rates increases.

“As part of implementing this direction, [the council] is consulting with staff on proposed organisational changes to give effect to budget reductions in several areas.”

It would not comment further but said the public would be informed when appropriate.

The Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance sent a statement suggesting the cuts amounted to up to 50 roles across climate, communications, planning, property and events teams.

“This is a welcome first step, but it’s barely 15 percent of the excess council staff that have already been identified,” spokesperson James Ross said.

“The Deloitte review laid out a pathway to save the equivalent of 15,509 average household rates bills. Council needs to stop cherry-picking and deliver long-overdue savings for ratepayers.”