Enliven’s Huntleigh Home Celebrate Communities To Celebrate Success In Improving Campbell Street Dip

Enliven’s Huntleigh Home recently hosted a street party for the Karori community and Huntleigh Home and Apartment residents on April 17th to celebrate the successful completion of the Campbell Street crossing. The event aimed to bring together the Karori community and Huntleigh Home residents in recognition of their collective efforts to address safety concerns. Huntleigh Home were pleased to see various groups, including village folks, the disability community, Wellington City Council, and residents’ families attend the celebration.

“It was extremely successful,” said Anna, Huntleigh Home manager. “After the ribbon cutting, the community were welcomed to Huntleigh Home for afternoon tea with residents and staff members, everyone had a wonderful time.”

For months, residents and staff at Huntleigh Home took proactive action by writing numerous letters and a submission to the council staff regarding Campbell Street’s unsafe “dip” that affected residents with disabilities and many others when heading out into the community.

Valerie Smith, a resident of Huntleigh Home, played a crucial role in advocating and organising for a safer crossing, pushing for this change since first contacting Council staff in 2022.

“It was hard work getting this underway, but we needed our voices heard,” said Valerie.” Valerie explained, “We want to be part of our community as much as possible, and this dip was limiting our access.” “When I came here, I could never get to the shops in my wheelchair,” she says.

Anna Roberts, the Huntleigh Home Manager, said that the recent creation of a proper crossing not only meant easier crossing for residents, but also improved wider public safety in the community. “Since the change, the health and safety risk has reduced, but it’s not just for residents using walkers or wheelchairs, it’s also beneficial for people with prams or school children in the community,” says Anna.

“We had invited the council to meet with the residents twice, once prior to the Karori Connection Road project and later as part of the Karori Connection proposals so that they could hear our views as to why this [Campbell Street] needed attention and urgent custom-made changes to reduce the health and safety risks it brought to all people crossing the road,” said Anna.

The installation changes have significantly improved accessibility for residents using wheelchairs like Valerie, enabling them to have better access to shops, malls, and the Karori center.

“The changes are very welcome, and it’s now much easier to go to and from the shops and Public Library and finally be part of the community - we are really appreciative of this,” says Valarie.

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