Feedback sought on City Mall revamp
The City Council is seeking public feedback on a proposal to do up City Mall and interested people and organisations have until 20 October to have their say.
City Mall is a vital element in a wider Council strategy to reinvigorate the central city and help it regain its place as the city’s social and commercial heart. Earlier this month the City Council approved a package of central city strategies and projects, including sending the mall proposal out for consultation.
The proposed mall design has been developed by the Isthmus Group, and has come out of an open design process involving landowners, retailers, the public and other organisations like the Discovery 1 and Unlimited schools.
The physical works will tie into other work being done with businesses to make the area more attractive to shoppers.
Maurice Roers, the Council’s senior central city planner, says there is no one magic bullet to City Mall’s ills. “Any renovation must rely on a balanced approach,” he says. “The proposed design builds on the analysis done throughout the design process. In the proposed design, we have incorporated the best features and benefits of each initial design concept while avoiding their respective pitfalls.”
“We believe this design strikes a balance between the various desires for City Mall and is a robust solution to the area’s present challenges.”
The proposal includes creating “garden rooms” on Cashel Street with seating and plantings and which can support outdoor dining, reintroducing limited traffic on portions of High and Cashel streets, placing event and recreation space adjacent to the schools on Cashel Street, reorganising and replanting trees to improve sightlines and visibility, replacing Stewart Fountain with new seating and an artwork, upgrading and improving pedestrian conditions at the Cashel-Colombo and Hereford-Colombo intersections, extending the tram down Cashel Street and along The Strip, improving lighting and safety, using sculptural elements to create gateways to the mall, developing a promenade along High Street and improving retail management, security and maintenance.
A decision about whether Lichfield Street should become two-way will be made later in the year when the council decides what to do about a new or expanded Bus Exchange.
Also approved was stage II of the Central City Revitalisation Strategy, an umbrella document which covers issues of high priority for the council and the public, including transport and parking, improving living conditions and the environment, safety, increasing activities, heritage retention, development of the Avon River promenade and improving retail and business opportunities. Stage one of the strategy was put together after public consultation in 2001.
Funding for four projects was approved to spruce up lanes in the centre, including Struthers (South of Lichfield Project) and the Lichfield Lanes area. A draft lanes plan, which seeks to guide council involvement in further development of a network of small city lanes and backstreets, will be open for feedback soon, primarily with property owners.
Councillors discussed how the stage II strategy (and an associated plan concentrating on the area south of Lichfield Street) would contribute to a goal of having 30,000 people living in the central city. As a result, the council asked staff to report on changes to its City Plan to support further intensification of the residential area that support the Urban Development Strategy goals. |
