Media Release 20 January 2012

For immediate distribution

10,000 take to the street

More than 10,000 people took advantage of free sport when part of Queen St was closed to traffic yesterday. Stunning weather, plenty of sit down spaces and a smorgasbord of sporting codes brought young and old to the CBD on a Sunday.

Playing in the Streets is an initiative of the Committee for Auckland's Future Auckland Leaders programme and was inspired by international cities such as Bogota, New York and Copenhagen which have successfully opened streets to people rather than cars in similar events over the last 20 years.

The free family event aimed to draw children, young people and their families into the city and was extremely successful. Local cafes and businesses reported that store traffic was significantly increased and several food outlets reported a growth in turnover of at least 30%.

Committee for Auckland Executive Director, Heather Shotter is delighted with the success of the event which was delivered with the assistance of Sport Auckland, Waitemata Local Board and Crackerjack promotions. “I am very proud of the Future Leaders who worked on this for 18 months to bring the day to Queen St. Auckland Council should be encouraged by this example of pedestrians being made a priority as it shows an aspect of their Central City Master Plan in action. What this shows us is that opening cities for people to enjoy brings economic benefits as well as being socially attractive”.

Committee for Auckland Future Leaders team for Playing in the Streets: Marianne Riley, John Duguid, Gerald Lanning, Jonathan Douglas, Kimberley McAuley

ENDS

About the Committee for Auckland

• The Committee for Auckland is an independent, cross-sector group of senior Auckland leaders, who work to identify issues, generate good ideas, and move these ideas into action.

• Members include corporate businesses, not for profits, local and central government agencies and tertiary institutions.

• The Committee for Auckland's work programme is designed around an understanding that initiatives which foster a great place to be, talented people and a dynamic city-region economy will deliver a successful international city.

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