3 June 2011

More than 400 people took part in Council-led Suburban Centres Programme workshops on the recovery of Lyttelton and Sydenham over the last three days to put their ideas and aspirations forward on how their commercial centres should be redeveloped.

Christchurch City Council Strategy Support Manager Richard Ball says the community workshops provided an important platform for people to identify issues, concerns and aspirations for their centre; and an opportunity to get these down on paper.

“People were brimming with ideas and there were consistent themes coming through in the workshops. People from both centres thought that maintaining a ‘sense of identity’ is important – they want vibrant centres that reflect their unique heritage.

“Other ideas included a greater mix of uses, combining retail, commercial and residential living, and better pedestrian spaces such as, wider footpaths and laneways off the main streets. Traffic issues and providing spaces for markets also featured prominently.”

Focus group sessions were also held for elected representatives, environment and social groups, and building and business owners. These sessions brought in important local knowledge and expertise for these areas.

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“All of these ideas will be an invaluable resource for the next step in the master planning process,” says Mr Ball.

Deputy Mayor Ngaire Button says the response from both communities has been tremendous.

“It is humbling to see how engaged these communities are in the rebuild process, their involvement is a major aspect of developing a master plan for their area.”

Urban design team Urbanismplus facilitated the workshops and will now lead the ‘design element’ of the master plan process, providing an opportunity to propose, discuss and test the communities’ ideas for rebuilding and recovery of these centres. Once a draft master plan has been developed it will be taken back to the community for feedback.

Lyttelton and Sydenham are the first two suburban centres to have begun a Council-led recovery process with a series of community, building and business sector workshops aimed at producing a draft master plan. Other centres will be considered for master plans or a case management approach, although further investigation is required to help determine the exact scope of works.