George Porter

David George Porter (4 September 1921 – 25 February 1998) was a New Zealand architect, company director and politician. He was a Wellington City Councillor and Deputy-Mayor from 1970 to 1971.

Biography Early life Porter was born on 4 September 1921 in Wellington to Ernest and Arline (née Thompson) Porter. He was educated at John McGlashan College and Wellesley College. He then attended the University of Auckland and graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1944. Porter married Frances Ann Fyfe with whom he had two daughters and one son on 23 December 1949 .

Until 1962 the council had no committee for housing but Porter successfully argued for the creation of one and for the council to be involved with the development of housing lots for both sale and rent complemented with pensioner flats. Development began on better zoning and planning with many areas of the city combining land usage unhealthily, epitomised by the suburb of Te Aro which in the late 1950s was still a mix of factories, small business retailers among hundreds of slum-like houses. Porter put forth the view that Wellington should formalise its approach to planning by putting in place standards that would avoid any further ad-hoc development. He worked with central government to secure funding to densify housing, replacing several hundred inner-city houses with larger apartment blocks which created more than 2,000 extra housing units in the city. By this time he had become synonymous with housing in Wellington. He retired from the council in 1974. He was also a member of the Wellington Regional Planning Authority (WRPA) and was its chairman from 1968 to 1974.

Later life and death He was a member of New Zealand's Environment Council until he retired in 1977.

Porter died in Wellington on 25 February 1998, aged 76, survived by his wife and children.