Revised System For Town Centre Improvements

The North Shore City Council is committed to looking after its town and village centres.

The council's strategy and finance committee this week confirmed its support for enhancing and improving town centres throughout the city. It will consider and confirm appropriate funding for implementing existing and future town centre plan improvements in its Long Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP) in December.

A report presented to the committee highlighted that limited funding is available for centre plan work which makes it difficult to deliver the outcomes set and sought by local communities.

Committee chairperson, Tony Holman, says centres are highly valued by communities.

"The LTCCP will give us the opportunity to allocate appropriate funding to ensure our centres continue to be vibrant, attractive places in which to live, work and spend leisure time. However, like all council activities, the speed and extent of centre improvements are governed by the community's desire and ability to fund the work.

"People want more certainty that initiatives aimed at enhancing and supporting local centres will be carried out in an orderly, planned way and this resolution should assist that process," Councillor Holman says.

Earlier consultation carried out by the council for its City Blueprint, a 20-year strategy for managing the city's growth and change, showed that town and village centres were the focal points for communities. The document recognises their importance and the need for strategic improvements to support their future vitality and viability.

The council has prepared four centre plans for Devonport, Takapuna, Albany Village and Browns Bay. Over the next few years, centre plans for other centres around the city will be created and local residents will have the opportunity to contribute to them. Work is already under way addressing the central areas of Highbury and Albany to establish visions and frameworks for these locations, as well as identify technical issues, opportunities and constraints.

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