Community engagement in the Papanui Ward in Christchurch, New Zealand
In The Press: the work underway to rebuild the Christchurch Northern Corridor bridge abutments at QEII Drive is costing “in the millions”, says the NZTA. Click through for the full article:
https://
Slumping bridge foundations on new Christchurch motorway to cost ‘millions’ to repair
“An extra 445 steel piles to be added to foundations for a new bridge after original walls slumped due to “extremely soft ground”.”
This week's Nor'West News reports on an increased field of candidates across local wards in this year's Council and Community Board elections. There's a 'meet the candidates' event for Papanui Ward coming up on 17 September – see this image, or click through for the full digital edition of the paper:
https://www.yumpu.com/…/62795484/norwest-news-august-27-2019
Harewood/Gardiners/Breens intersection: a process explanation and news update. Decision-making around options for the intersection is passing through three layers of local government: first the responsible Community Board; then the Council's Infrastructure, Transport and Environment Committee (ITE); and then the full Council.
In the first stage, the Fendalton-Waimairi-Harewood Community Board recommended that the ITE recommends that the Council approves traffic lights. Yesterday the ITE committee met, but did not make any recommendation, instead simply referring the report and Community Board recommendation to the Council meeting of 12 September 2019. Councillor Aaron Keown, a strong advocate for traffic lights, is a member of the ITE committee but was absent from today's meeting.
Will the Papanui bus priority project be back on track soon? The Main North Road bus priority project aims to improve the travel time for public transport users through the Papanui area. Pedestrians and cyclists also get some benefits, and the Grassmere St intersection will be signalised.
The Council recently announced a delay to the project due to uncertainties over NZTA funding – but Richard Osborne, Acting General Manager City Services told Think Papanui this week that “We have been in discussions with NZTA since late May regarding funding decisions on our transport projects. We have recently heard back from NZTA and they have advised that they are likely to provide funding for the Main North Road Bus Priority project.”
An NZTA spokesperson said that “Once the Transport Agency received the Business Case for the bus and bike lane project from the CCC, it was reinstalled into the system for funding reprioritisation and we hope to have some good news on that by mid-September.”
Each weekend Think Papanui publishes a video summary of stories from the Papanui area over the past week, as well as a look at what’s coming up in the week ahead. The videos can be found on Think Papanui’s YouTube channel:
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Papanui Ward: weekly local news recap 24 August 2019
“Think Papanui’s founder and curator Simon Britten gives a rundown on stories covered by Think Papanui over the previous week. For more details on these stori…”
Source
Think Papanui’s curator Simon Britten rounds up stories from the past week:
On Saturday, the St Vincent De Paul store in Papanui reopened. Coverage of the opening was Think Papanui’s top post of the week on Facebook.
Consultation on proposed transport projects in the Cranford Street area closed on Monday 19 August.
Also on Monday, the City Council confirmed that the Main North Road bus priority project was delayed – construction had been expected to start in July. Think Papanui has approached both the Council and NZTA for comment – keep an eye out for a follow-up article over the weekend.
Final nominations for Papanui Ward in the 2019 local body elections have been confirmed.
I posted some information on the agenda for today’s meeting of the Waipapa/Papanui-Innes Community Board.
Council staff have recommended a 30km/h speed zone for some Papanui streets, following recent consultation.
I reported on last Saturday’s meeting of the Waimāero/Fendalton-Waimairi-Harewood Community Board, which unanimously recommended traffic lights for the Harewood/Gardiners/Breens intersection.
Parenting Week 2019 runs for ten days during September.
The reopening of Redwood Library has been delayed due to structural concerns – a mobile library service will continue to visit the site two days a week.
Feedback is always welcome on Think Papanui’s content, either on Facebook or Instagram, or directly to me.
With warm regards
Simon Britten
Monday 26 August’s meeting of the Council’s Infrastructure, Transport and Environment Committee will consider the options for the improvement of the Harewood/Gardiners/Breens Road intersection. The Waimāero/Fendalton-Waimairi-Harewood Community Board has recommended that the Committee recommend traffic signals at the intersection to the Council. This follows a public consultation that saw more than a thousand submissions, with the majority in favour of lights, and also an independent safety assessment that finds lights to be the least safe of the options considered. Following Monday’s meeting, the Council is expected to make a final decision prior to the upcoming election. To read the full agenda, including the staff report and independent safety assessment, see:
https://christchurch.infocouncil.biz/…/ITEC_20190826_AGN_39…
Agenda of Infrastructure, Transport and Environment Committee – 26 00 2019
Redwood Library was scheduled to reopen next week following repairs and refurbishments. Investigations have found that the building requires more work than planned.
Christchurch City Council Acting Head of Libraries and Information Erica Rankin says that cracks have been found in the building’s concrete slab foundation around structural steel columns. Engineers need to assess the damage and determine the best way to carry out repairs.
A mobile library vehicle will continue visiting the Redwood Library car park twice a week on Wednesdays from 10am to 11am and Fridays from 3pm to 4pm, and at this stage a new opening date has not been announced.
See these photos for a peek through the windows at the current state of the building. More information at: https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/…/redwood-library…/
Parenting Week 2019 is coming up – there’s a programme of events to support families running from Monday, 9th September through to Thursday 19th September. Coordinated by The Neighbourhood Trust, there are opportunities to hear from: Pio Terei; Dame/Dr Sue Bagshaw; Mike King; Jax Hamilton; and many more. Click through for more information and a full listing of events:
https://nht.org.nz/parentingweek/
Parenting Week – Neighbourhood Trust
“Here at Neighbourhood Trust we are passionate about supporting families. Parenting has both it’s joys and it’s trials. With the help of parenting experts, advocates and agencies, from Christchurch and further afield, we have put together a programme of events over 10 days.”
At the meeting on 17 August, the Waimāero/Fendalton-Waimairi-Harewood Community Board: heard public deputations on the Harewood/Gardiners/Breens intersection; heard from staff who presented a report on the intersection, which included a summary of public feedback from the recent consultation, and an independent safety assessment; and then unanimously passed resolutions to recommend
The Board’s recommendations will go to an upcoming meeting of the Council’s Infrastructure, Transport, and Environment Committee, which in turn will make a recommendation to the full Council. The full minutes of the meeting are available at:
https://christchurch.infocouncil.biz/…/FWHB_20190817_MIN_38…
