Kapiti Coast Roundup

COUNCIL RECOGNISED AT SOLGM LOCAL GOVERNMENT EXCELLENCE AWARDS

The Kāpiti Coast District Council won the BERL Collaborative Government Action Award category at the 2017 McGredy Winder SOLGM Local Government Excellence Awards on Thursday 12 April for its work to get the Mackays to Peka Peka Expressway on the road.

The BERL Collaborative Government Action Award recognises outstanding results that have been achieved through local authorities working with other government agencies.

Mayor K Gurunathan says the Council’s involvement with the M2PP Alliance was held up as an excellent example of central and local government working together at its best.

“The Award recognises the efforts of Council staff and members of the M2PP Alliance who worked collaboratively and in partnership to deliver a project that will provide significant social, economic and environmental benefits to the Kāpiti Coast community for years to come.”

The M2PP Project was the first time the NZ Transport Agency had ever asked a local authority to join an alliance. The M2PP Alliance, a private sector consortium, was set up to design and build the $630 million Mackays to Peka Peka Expressway.

Chief Executive Pat Dougherty says the Council was very fortunate to have been invited by the NZ Transport Agency to join the Alliance.

“While it wasn’t always plain sailing, it allowed the Council to play an active role in decision making at the board table and gave us our best shot advocating for our community’s interests as well as realising the benefits and minimising the impacts of the Expressway.”

“Everyone involved was committed to engaging with our community, doing a high-quality job and delivering a project the community would be proud of.”

Mr Dougherty says the Council is now intent on extending the successful model of collaboration it enjoyed with the NZ Transport Agency and their construction partners throughout the design and construction of the M2PP project to the Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway project.

For a summary of the Council’s BERL Collaborative Government in Action award entry visit https://youtu.be/BOTcTDC1zoU

SOLGM is the national membership organisation for local government professionals. For more information visit www.solgm.org.nz/

WORK BEGINS ON REFRESHING COUNCIL’S LONG TERM PLAN FOR KĀPITI

Over the last couple of weekends dozens of Kāpiti folk have taken part in community workshops to share insights, issues and opportunities as work on the 2018-38 long term plan gets underway.

Mayor K Gurunathan was delighted with the breadth of views shared at the workshops, including ideas on what’s changing and what collectively we need to be considering for the future.

Every three years the Council reviews the 20-year plan for the district, to ensure it stays relevant and reflects any changes in the environment and the communities’ aspirations for Kāpiti.

Group Manager Strategy and Planning Sarah Stevenson says that a wide range of community groups were invited to have a representative at one of the workshops.

“We are in the very early stages of an iterative process, and we look forward to taking the conversation to the wider community in the coming months. The long term plan will take until the middle of next year to complete,” she says.

“The vision and focus areas set out in the long term plan will then drive much of the work of Council – so it’s important we get it right.”

POPLAR AVENUE SHARED PATH IMPROVEMENTS TO COMMENCE NEXT WEEK

Work will commence next week to upgrade the footpath on the north side of Poplar Avenue between Matai Road and Glen Road to a 2.5 metre shared path.

Infrastructure Services Group Manager Sean Mallon says the upgrade aims to provide a safe and consistent shared pathway for people travelling to and between the Raumati South Village, the Mackays to Peka Peka Cycleway, Walkway and Bridleway and the Te Awa o Whareroa cycleway in Queen Elizabeth Park.

The Poplar Avenue footpath upgrade forms part of a $5 million package of shared path improvements the Council is delivering through its Stride ‘n’ Ride Kāpiti Coast initiative across the district.

Shared paths have already been provided at Tilley Road in Paekākāriki, Mazengarb and Kāpiti Roads in Paraparaumu and Otaihanga Road in Otaihanga. Work is currently underway to improve pedestrian and cycling connections on Raumati Road between Weka Road and the Mackays to Peka Peka Cycleway, Walkway and Bridleway.

Mr Mallon says the work is expected to take around two to three months to complete.

“There will be some disruption while this work is carried out but we aim to keep this to a minimum and traffic management will be in place at all times to ensure pedestrian access is maintained.”

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