Porirua City Council (PCC) was successful in its bid to secure government funding for a neighbourhood improvement project in Eastern Porirua.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency recently announced that it will award $675,000 of funding for an innovative streets neighbourhood improvement project that focuses on Castor Crescent and its surrounding streets. The total project value is $750,000 and the funding will cover 90% of the costs.

The funding comes from the Waka Kotahi’s Innovating Streets programme and pilot fund which allows councils and communities to collaborate, co-design and quickly test temporary tactical improvements to their streets.

"We are delighted to have secured funding for this project in Eastern Porirua. We want our public spaces to be safe and people friendly and this funding gives us the opportunity to re-imagine our streets with our community, trial concepts and see what works well for future improvements," says Porirua Mayor Anita Baker.

Mayor Baker says PCC applied for funding to improve Castor Crescent and surrounding streets in the second round of the Waka Kotahi’s Innovating Streets pilot fund.

The pilot fund supports quick, low-cost interim improvements, these can be trial projects, pop-ups or interim treatments that will help inform future permanent improvements.

"The support from Waka Kotahi is a huge boost to help us with the Porirua Development project in Eastern Porirua," says Mayor Baker.

Mayor Baker says that the Innovating Streets programme makes it easier for Council and residents to collaborate, test new approaches and gather live data.

"The funding from the Innovating Streets project gives us the opportunity to make fast changes and try out new ideas, while also giving our community the chance to be involved in co-creating street designs and give us real-time feedback," says Mayor Baker.

The next step for Council is to set up a project team and develop a project plan with its partners Waka Kotahi and Kāinga Ora. The project plan will identify how Council and the community will work together to co-design and deliver tactical street improvements.

"We expect the project to gather momentum over the next couple of months as we work alongside the community to re- imagine the look and feel of Castor Crescent and the surrounding neighbourhood", says Mayor Baker.

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