About Village Planning

Village Planning was initiated in 2011 as part of revitalization of community functions after the 2010-2012 earthquakes. SPRIG (Stoddart Point Regeneration Ideas Group) was established to support the post-earthquake recovery of our community. It was instrumental in gathering ideas into thedocument ‘Getting to the Point’ and for initiating summer concerts and sculpture.

The Diamond Harbour Community Association now hosts two community groups as ‘sub-committees’ that have taken over the work of SPRIG. One is implementing ‘Getting to the Point’ through a Village Planning collaboration with the Council. The other organises the summer concerts and sculpture. If you wish to support these projects then you are welcome to join the groups, or contact the Association to provide feedback.

Village Development Concept Plan Final draft – Available for comment – 21 March 2017

CCC Landscape Architect Jenny Moore and Traffic Planner Bill Holmwood have prepared a revised DH Village Development Concept Plan
for the Diamond Harbour Community Association. This is a final draft and we have until 1 May to gather feedback before comments are compiled, the plan finalised and then presented to the Community Board.

Go to the Village Planning blog and add your feedback in the comments section. If you would like to discuss the process, please get in touch with me – Richard Suggate, DHCA Chair, richard.suggate@gmail.com, 03-3293177.

FINAL – Diamond Harbour Action Plan

I can announce the finalisation of the Diamond Harbour Action Plan. This is one outcome of the community planning and consultation undertaken last year and helps implement the ideas that were outlined in the SPRIG ‘Getting to the Point’.

While the document is prepared by the Community Association with the support of the Council, it only has usefulness in as much as it empowers all sections of the community to be engaged in our local well-being. As such, it is not set in stone and as circumstances change and projects are initiated, there will be opportunities to revise or put out a new version. Many of the projects (e.g. Art, Culture, Business) are in the hands of local individuals, and groups to progress. The DHCA does not ‘own’ these projects, we have created them to facilitate dialogue and collaboration.

The Community Association and the lead Council planner Miranda Charles will present the plan to the Banks Peninsula Community Board on 27 March. To assist with the implementation of the some of the Action Plan projects (e.g. signage, village development), the Community Board have asked for $10,000 to be set aside in the CCC 2016-17 Plan for the pathway and signage. This will complement the $15,000 of grant money held by the DHCA which will be spent on creating the path between the domain road and the Godley House site. The path will remove the need to walk on the last part of the busy wharf road to get up to the cafes.

Thomas Kulpe with input from others, including Tracey Ower and Nancy Vance, has completed a project description for the pathway construction, which I have just sent off to the Council for their approval.

View/download the Action Plan…

Richard Suggate, DHCA Chair
Ph 329 3177 or 027 687 6242

Saturday 29th October Village Planning Meeting – Follow-Up

The meeting held on October 29 in the Stage Room in the Community Hall was very successful with over 70 people attending. It started with an overview of the planning process to date, followed by presentations by Jenny Moore and Bill Holmwood on Village Development – Transport and Pathways project. After a question and answer session, there was the opportunity to place comments on the Landscape Analysis, Draft Concept Plan and the two options for traffic and pedestrian interface in the village centre.

People also provided comment on the outline of the ten Village Planning projects The most recent summary versions of the Village Planning action plans that were displayed for comment on Saturday can be viewed here…

You can also view the analysis, concept plan and the two design options for the Village Centre Traffic and Pathways Project.

The complied comments received on the three maps displayed at the meeting can be viewed here… The next step is for any further feedback to be compiled, and a revised concept plan and a final proposed design for the village centre to be prepared by the Council. This will then be presented back to the Community Association for agreement. The Community Association will then work with the Community Board to get the Council to implement the concept plan and design.

If you haven’t already provided feedback please do so. In particular please, state a preference for which of the two traffic layout options you prefer in the Village Centre. Email your ideas to richard.suggate@gmail.com by 25 November.

Richard Suggate, DHCA Chair
Ph 329 3177 or 027 687 6242

Village Planning Community Consultation Meeting

Village Planning: August 2016 Update

The Diamond Harbour Community Association since November 2015 has been working with the Council to develop a package of projects that provide for future sustainable development for the community.

The first focus has been on the Village Centre and the Godley House site. Jenny Moore a Council landscape architect is preparing a Village Development Plan incorporating new pathways, modified traffic lanes and signage. She has consulted with local businesses and community groups using the Community Centre/Playing Field Area and is expected to have a draft proposal available for consultation in September.

At a meeting on August 15 a small group of mostly DHCA Committee members did a final revision of the DH Planning Projects. The result is available here…

Meanwhile representatives from the DHCA, the Reserve Committee and others have prepared scoping outlines for the following projects:

• Village Development – Transport and pathways
• Stoddart Point Reserves Management Plan implementation
• Godley House Site
• Wharf, ferry parking and linkages
• Information and Signage
• Public amenities/toilets/drinking fountains/seating
• Children and Youth Recreation
• Local Business Development
• Arts, Culture and Events
• Sustainability

These draft project outlines will also be available in September for further community feedback. A drop-in session will be organised on a Saturday afternoon.

If you have any feedback now, please contact Richard Suggate, DHCA Chair, on 329 3177 or richard.suggate@gmail.com.

Richard Suggate

Village Planning: March Update

Village Pathway & traffic management project

At a 1 March meeting it was agreed that the development of a village pathway linking Godley House
site, Cemetery, the Reserve car-park, the shops, Community Hall, Library, Medical Centre and Stoddart Cottage and sports club was a high priority. This will enable locals and visitors to walk between these locations without being mixed up with traffic. It will also provide the basis for other design work in the village centre to manage traffic, parking, seating and signage.

On 4 May, CCC representatives Miranda Charles (Planning), Joan Blatchford, Andrea Wild (Community Liaison) and Jenny Moore (Landscape Architect) met with local residents from the DHCA, Reserves Committee and the original
SPRIG Planning Group to approve a final Project Brief for pedestrian pathways and transport improvements. Following the meeting the group then walked around the potential route the pathway could follow to discuss design options.

Some of the area is included within the Stoddart Point Reserve Management Plan, and remaining areas are within/adjacent to the road corridor. The physical area to be included in the brief is illustrated in the attached map. Background documents for the project include the Final Stoddart Point Reserve Management Plan and “Getting to the Point” the Diamond Harbour community-led village planning document.

Other pieces of work which are at various stages of planning/development being progressed by other Council staff include:

• Godley House site future (Maria Adamski);
• Stoddart Point Cemetery Plan (Abigail Smith and Eric Banks);
• Head to Head Walkway (Lizzie Farthing and Charlie Dooley).

The project will involve the following tasks:

(i) Gathering of information and preparation of project principals/objectives and parameters. This will involve walking over the site, and gathering information from Council staff, community and local owners of premises, related to desired route / walking desire lines, safety issues, surface treatments / surface requirements, drainage and landscape plantings etc. Traffic investigations will consider traffic calming on Waipapa Avenue, parking and circulation outside commercial properties, opportunities to connect existing car parking areas (between the village and the Reserve), and pedestrian access between the village and the community and medical centres;

(ii) Preparation of a draft development plan. This draft document will comprise text and illustrations to describe project principals/objectives and indicate:

• The location, extent and nature of road corridor improvements (e.g. kerb-lines, paving surfaces and parking space layout etc);
• The location, extent and nature (e.g. user-hierarchy) of new pedestrian pathways and landscaping (e.g. materials and landscape palette). The pathways may indicate a hierarchy of use/treatments; and
• The potential placement of new furniture such as public seating, lighting, rubbish bins and way-finding signage/interpretation.

(iii) Preparation of a final development plan, following a community engagement exercise. Community representatives will coordinate a wider community engagement exercise to collect feedback from Diamond Harbour residents on the draft development plan. Once feedback is received, a final document will be prepared which will form the basis of a future capital project. Funding may come from the Council, the community, or a partnership approach e.g. cost-sharing arrangement. Relevant cost estimates for construction and ongoing maintenance will be prepared as part of this project.

The work will be led by Jenny Moore the assigned Council senior landscape architect who may be contacted at jenny.moore@ccc.govt.nz.
Village planning – implementing ‘Getting to the Point’
A meeting was held on 11 May with good progress being made in identifying the key current projects that come from the Action Plan in ‘Getting to the Point’. Attendance included DHCA and Reserve Committee members, three CCC staff, local business people, Nancy Vance and Tracey Ower (members of the original SPRIG Team).

We agreed to develop briefs for at least the following projects – we’ll fine-tune the list and names next meeting:

• Business development
• Arts, Culture & Events
• Godley House site
• Walkways – note the separate Village Pathway project is  already under action
• Ferry – Wharf and Transport
• Village Square design
• Traffic Management & Parking
• Signage & Interpretation
• Public Amenities/Toilets
• Playground
• Information Centre
• Stoddart Point Management Plan implementation

We noted that the SPRIG Vision (including Sustainable Design) should underwrite all projects. At the next meeting (25 May) we will go through the projects and identify for each one: purpose, community contribution, who is involved, leadership, cost/time/resources, interdependencies, indicators, main tasks and priority.

We chose one project (Signage & Interpretation) to test the method on and it worked well. Once the project plans have been drafted we will hold an evening meeting for those interested people who could not attend day-time meetings, to contribute more ideas to the projects. Once we have good versions of the project plans we will hold a community, meeting / drop-in (probably a weekend) to get wider local feedback.

The next meeting to develop the Project Plans will be 9.45am – 12.00pm Wednesday, 25 May at Stoddart Cottage.  If you are unable to attend but would like to be involved please contact me at richard.suggate@gmail.com or 329 3177.

Richard Suggate, Chairperson, Diamond Harbour Community Association.

Getting to the Point

The document was prepared by Tracey Ower, in April 2014, for the Diamond Harbour Community Association, as a summary the community’s ideas for the regeneration of the Stoddart Point/Village Centre area with proposals for future action. It incorporated many of the ideas expressed in September 2011 community consultation and summarised by the DHCA and Lyttelton/Mt Herbert Community Board in the document called ‘Community Comments’.

View Getting to the Point
View Community Comments