PCC City Centre Sub-Committee & External Implementation Team

PCC City Centre Sub-Committee and External Implementation Team Appointed

The new Porirua City Council sub-committee for the City Centre Revitalisation Project has hit the ground running and appointed professional services consulting company, Beca to manage the revamp of the city centre.

The sub-committee has been set up by the Council to oversee the strategic direction and implementation of the City Centre Revitalisation Project.

The revitalisation project is about creating growth in a vibrant city centre, which will mean better public spaces and events with the aim of attracting development and more jobs for Porirua citizens. Critical to the project’s success is partnerships between the Council, business, investors and the community.

Reflecting this is the make-up of the new sub-committee which has six members. Chair, Mayor Nick Leggett, Deputy Chair, Councillor Ken Douglas and four independent members:

• John Feast – who has been involved in property development and providing commercial advice in Wellington for the past 30-40 years. He is a property and share investor with a great interest in the region and strong ties to Porirua.
• Norah Barlow – who has been the Chief Executive Officer leading Summerset since 2001. She has taken the business from being a small operator on the Kapiti Coast to being the third largest operator and second largest developer in the industry.
• Matiu Rei – who has been the Executive Director of Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira Incorporated since 1990, and is of Ngati Toa Rangatira descent. Matiu is also Chairperson of Te Ohu Kaimoana Trust.
• Jonathan Custance – who established CUSTANCE (an architecture, interior design, product design, urban design and project management organisation) in Wellington in 1985 and Sydney in 2000.

The sub-committee’s first task was to appoint a project delivery unit, external to the Council, to run the project under its guidance.

Mayor Nick Leggett says four companies tendered for the role as project deliverer and Beca was appointed.

“This is an exciting phase for the project. We’re looking forward to the new project delivery unit getting established and reporting through to the sub-committee so that the Council can agree to the next steps in the revitalisation of our city centre.”

When it came to choosing the company to deliver the project, Mayor Leggett says Beca had a proven track record with many previous town and city centre redevelopments under its belt.

“Beca also has highly experienced people on the project management team and has previous experience working with Porirua City Council.”

Beca Programme Director, Greg Pollock, says the Beca team is looking forward to working on the revitalisation of the city centre and in particular to getting the private sector on board. The Beca team includes Martin Udale and Anthony Beverley – two well-known property experts, as well as other technical specialists from Beca.

“We’re excited about the chance to do something which will be of really long term benefit to the community. We’re interested in getting the right pre-conditions in place for the private sector to come in and increase their investment in the centre.

“Currently the city centre undervalues the city’s natural features and attributes – I’m talking about Porirua harbour and Porirua stream. We want to see an emphasis on making them front and centre of the redevelopment, all the while aiming to evolve the city centre so that it provides a strong heart for the residents of Porirua” says Mr Pollock.

Beca will spend the next three months developing a strategic plan with recommendations focussed on implementation. These will be presented to the sub-committee for signoff and if approved, implementation will begin.

ENDS

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