Final sign-off for New Brighton Centre Master Plan

Christchurch City Council today gave the final sign-off on the Master Plan for the recovery and redevelopment of New Brighton’s commercial centre.

Burwood–Pegasus Community Board Chairperson Andrea Cummings says, “Today is an important and exciting milestone for the recovery of New Brighton's commercial centre. The adoption of this Master Plan is testament to a passionate, hard-working and committed community that firmly believes in the future of its neighbourhoods and town centre.

“The Burwood–Pegasus Community Board is immensely proud of the work the community have put in, particularly the leadership shown by the local business community and the New Brighton Community Advisory Group.

“Over the decades New Brighton has seen several well-meaning attempts to revitalise the commercial centre. What sets this Plan apart is the level of bold thinking and the collaborative approach followed, to prepare and finalise the master plan. We now have a document that reflects and embraces the things that people said they value about New Brighton, and identifies those things that people would like to see improved. It is clear that the community are committed to creating a proud legacy for current and future generations to enjoy,” Ms Cummings says.

Urban Design and Regeneration Unit Manager Carolyn Ingles says the New Brighton Centre Master Plan is the final master plan in a suite of nine to be delivered as part of the Suburban Centres Programme.

“Through the Suburban Centres Programme, over the past four years an enormous amount of work has gone into developing master plans for the rebuild and recovery of the city’s most earthquake-damaged suburban centres. This work involved the combined efforts of suburban communities, community boards, business and land owners, community organisations, agencies, and Council staff.

“With the final plan now approved, the city has nine community-agreed Master Plans that provide a coordinated approach to planning and will help guide decision-making to see these centres develop and flourish. Of the eight other master plans, several have implementation actions that are underway or completed, such as Lyttelton’s recently opened Albion Square and urban design guidelines for Sumner Village Centre.

"The delivery of actions is a shared responsibility with the Council, land and business owners and the wider community.

“Input from the New Brighton community, business and property owners, and community leaders has strengthened the Master Plan and enabled it to focus on actions to encourage further investment within the commercial centre. These include consolidating the business centre into a smaller, more compact centre and extending Oram Avenue through to Hawke Street, which would create a new north-south road through the existing pedestrian mall that encourages greater activity and vitality. The Council has allocated $2.2 million toward the cost of land purchase for the Oram Avenue extension project.

“Funding decisions and timing for other Master Plan actions, including formation of the new road, streetscape works for surrounding streets and open space projects along the foreshore will be considered through the Long Term Plan process which gets underway on 17 March 2015.

“Members of the community can now see the results of their participation in building a strong future vision for their suburban centre with the adoption of the Master Plan,” Ms Ingles says.

Printed copies of the final New Brighton Centre Master Plan will be available in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the Master Plan can be viewed on the Council’s website.

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