Always good to find what is happening around New Brighton and we can start with the success of our recent major events aided by great weather including the Coast to Coast, City to Surf, National Surf Lifesaving champs and the unique Duke Festival of Surfing & Skateboarding.
To support these events and attract more fun and recreation is helping drive development of the mall area and part of the regeneration objective.
Developed in 2015 the New Brighton Centre Master Plan aims to re-establish it as the heart of the coastal eastern suburbs. The goal of the Master Plan is to establish a revitalised hub attracting people to ‘live, work and play’ in New Brighton building on huge natural advantages in the form of sea, estuary, river, wetlands, dunes, parks etc.
As most will know there is something like 15.8 million to be spent on New Brighton as part of the City Council’s Long-Term Plan (over 10 years) beginning 2021 and this includes the Streetscapes (improvement of the roads, footpaths and landscaping including planting around the mall area) and the much talked about Oram Av extension.
The bulk of this money (around $11million) is destined to be spent between 2026-2028.
During this latter period there will be upgrades to Beresford Street, Hawke Street, Mall end of Shaw Av, and Seaview Road to Union Street.
The New Brighton Residents Assn will continue to push get some of these objectives brought forward.
Let’s examine two years on to see what progress has been made since 2021…
We will start with the good news… Coastal City Councillor Celeste Donovan has provisionally persuaded the City Council to allow $300,000 to come forward into this year’s Annual Plan (over next 12 months) to go towards the design and concept stage for Streetscapes improvements, and this was no mean feat as there is a push to delay the spend in areas like the east to reduce this year’s rates increase.
This money would be spent mainly on concept design plans for the top end of the Mall linking with and adding to the $2.3 million ‘Village Green’ proposal (recently presented through public meetings and enthusiastically endorsed by overwhelming feedback from the Coastal area).
The advantage of bringing forward funding the design stage is that it provides a compelling case for the community to ask council to bring forward more significant funding as part of the LTP next year to allow delivery of the Master Plan work. Starting this planning work now is also intended to help alignment with other planned work in the mall such as the Greater New Brighton project. The goal is to ensure these projects are jointly delivered with minimal disruption to existing business and residents.
In other words, the overall coordinated focus is facilitating improvements outside the Village Green into the Council owned land through centre of mall, and the space between Home & Castle hardware store & Phad Thai restaurant.
Also demolishing the former Westpac bank building towards the final quarter of this year (currently looking at relocating the ATM), to form a temporary lane from the Hawke St carpark directly into the mall and linking with the ‘Village Green’.
This lane will be a pedestrian fore-runner to Oram Av extension (see below).
To have the foreshore end of the existing mall redeveloped will be a momentum lift for the rest of the mall. It is aimed at drawing people into that space and a boost to the Harris family’s desire to develop the commercial blocks on either side.
As for the Oram Av extension, the landowner of the old and dilapidated Savemart is believed to also own the carpark at the rear of that bank, and in five years of trying there seems to be little progress in getting an option on the necessary land by the Council or CHCHNZ or anybody.
The regeneration of New Brighton retail continues to be handicapped by this absentee land-owning hold-out.
This has contributed to cynicism about anything going ahead out this way, however despite this there have been huge strides in other parts of the regeneration plan.
It is important people have their say on this year’s Annual Plan not only to ensure this $300k to New Brighton is not removed when the final vote is taken around the Council table but also keep New Brighton at the attention of the Mayor and other Councillors:
https://ccc.govt.nz/the-council/haveyoursay/show/582…
The Pages Rd bridge draft plan release has been pushed out yet again, and not now due to be presented to the Coastal Community Board till June, and after that released for public consultation (the New Brighton Residents Assn believe they have it the wrong way round and should be exposed to public viewing first or at least at the same time).
All reasons for delays to identified project announcement release dates should be publicly notified so ratepayers/residents are at least kept in the loop. The complexities of the Pages Road bridge project include tsunami evacuations, the future of New Brighton Rd and design factors.
Finally with more positive news, the New Brighton Residents Assn and Countdown staff member Lorna McLoughlin has persuaded the owners of the Countdown land (Stride Properties) to do something about the danger to pedestrians walking into the store from the footpath. This means using the same access as motorists and there have been a number of near misses and at least one car v mobility scooter collision. While it is not the perfect outcome there will be a path directly from Hawke St with signage through the middle area as per the photos below.
Lastly the He Puna Taimoana Hot Pools are only days away from a grand re-opening to show off improvements in the changing areas, landscaping around the pools and upgrade of sauna etc and you will see further additions over the coming months to be revealed later.