Thursday 11 February 2016

Community to vote on preferred New Brighton projects

New Brighton residents will next week vote on community ideas to brighten-up public spaces in the seaside suburb.

A drop-in voting session will be held on Wednesday 17 February, 4.30pm - 7.30pm, at the Burwood/Pegasus Community Board Room, corner Beresford and Union Streets.

The community is welcome to come along and vote for their favourite ideas, most of which were generated by members of the public at a recent community meeting. Christchurch City Council has provided a budget of $25,000 to the Burwood/Pegasus Community Board to make some of these projects happen in coming months. The aim is to make pedestrian areas more attractive and bring visitors to New Brighton.

Burwood/Pegasus Community Board Chair Andrea Cummings says this is a great example of the Council responding to community needs and involving local residents in the decision-making process.

"Residents want to be part of these decisions and the response so far has been really positive. We got great feedback at a recent drop-in session and lots of interesting and fun ideas were discussed.

"Now is your chance to get involved in the final decision. Everyone is welcome, whether you only have time to pop in for five minutes and vote for your favourite idea, or you want to stay longer and talk to Community Board members and staff about the ideas."

Ideas generated by the community at a recent drop-in session include:
Greening the mall - bright colours, flowers, planters, painting benches
Family seating areas - sun loungers, picnic tables
Colourful sun shades - pedestrian mall, open spaces, near library
Photo opportunities - head-in-the-hole, art sculptures
Activities - table tennis, outdoor cinema, beach volleyball, outdoor stage, public BBQs

Head of Urban Design, Regeneration and Heritage Carolyn Ingles says the aim of the project is to engage the local community, attract more people to the area, increase activity and promote more public discussion about the regeneration of New Brighton.

"It's important that the community is involved in the process and we have had some great ideas for new projects. Next week's voting session will ensure everyone who wants to have a say can do so."

Council staff have looked in to the concerns raised in the media recently by New Brighton residents and ask people to call our customer call centre on 941 8999 if they see any specific issues related to rubbish or street cleaning. The Council empties 45 rubbish bins in the New Brighton area every day. Street sweeping is carried out fortnightly, including the mall roads and the adjacent areas, and the pedestrian area of the mall.

Future projects
The Council is also seeking feedback on a long-term proposal to hold a design competition to build a series of temporary "tiny huts" - small structures to be used for a variety of community or tourist purposes and located around the pedestrian area. Community feedback has so far been positive and the idea is to seek local partners to help build and use the huts. Find out more and tell us what you think at the public meeting on Wednesday 17 February, 4.30pm - 7.30pm, Burwood/Pegasus Community Board Room, corner Beresford and Union Streets.

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