For those interested in what is happening around New Brighton, it might seem like Covid has dampened down activity and in some cases that has happened as most of us are aware with sports and musical events and building material hold ups.
However, there is plenty going on, some behind the scenes and over the next few months there will be a series of announcements relating to the central retail space and housing intensification.
ChristchurchNZ hopes to make an announcement on Beresford Street in March-April. It is working through the conditional period with the preferred developer/s for the Beresford Street sites – and reports to be quite excited about this project.
In respect to other residential housing projects, work has commenced on the Seaview Development – Grant McKinnon has indicated that these are selling well and expects Stage 3 properties to be released to the market very soon. There appears to be no shortage private developers interested in New Brighton for new projects with at least two others in planning and design stages, especially after the Government passed a new Act into law to help facilitate the development of residential land in a faster, simpler way,
The purchase of land for the Oram Avenue extension in the commercial centre is still underway by CCC. A key landholding (the old Westpac building) was purchased last year and has been leased to tenants while the balance of land is acquired. This continues to be a pivotal piece of the puzzle for New Brighton and the outcome could feature the future of Countdown. While these land-owner negotiations seem to be taking longer than one would have expected, there is a general recognition of community expectation about being kept informed and these discussions successfully concluding sooner rather than later.
ChristchurchNZ is supporting a pilot project in the Roy Stokes Hall to test the feasibility of a Creative Community hub. Life in Vacant Spaces is managing this project and working with the community to establish new uses and develop a business case to support the space long-term. A new anchor tenant joined the Christchurch Circus Trust in January and there have been upgrades to make the hall more user-friendly in the short-term.
Aside from the higher profile land development updates ChristchurchNZ have been promoting local initiatives to increase the viability of New Brighton as a visitor point.
- Watch This Space and New Brighton Outdoor Arts Foundation are developing a unique art experience that encourages locals and visitors to explore New Brighton. Tours have been subsidised for locals across six dates (running till Feb 20th, weather dependent) and interest has been high.
- There is a group of passionate locals working on a map of free things to do in New Brighton
- Work is being done to explore cultural tours to showcase the mana whenua stories included in the regeneration projects so far.
- The New Brighton Museum is raising money to purchase its building and a desire to incorporate some of its displays outside of the museum within public spaces.
If you have a great idea of a recreational venture or activity to enhance the New Brighton experience, get in touch below.
https://www.christchurchnz.com/
There are prospective businesses looking to get into our commercial hub but in the only sour note, having trouble finding suitable premises, and one reason relates to one or two landowners (largely absentee) either asking too much rent or not prepared to put much effort into upgrading buildings/carpark repair. It would be great for someone to create a database of all the current retail space currently available and pass it onto ChchNZ.
As for the proposed new Pages Rd bridge incorporating a pedestrian/cycle pathway All going well, the project team is planning to get the proposal out for formal public consultation in May / June 2022.