22 November 2000

Central City Feedback Still Sought 

Feedback to ideas for the revitalisation of Christchurch’s central city is still wanted - and the deadline for submissions has been extended.

So far 652 submissions have been made on the Discussion Document produced by the Central City Mayoral Forum. The closing date for submissions has been extended a week to 7 December.

The public meeting at the Christchurch Convention Centre on Monday night attracted a broad cross-section of the public and the mood was generally positive and supportive of the work and ideas produced by the Forum. The meeting followed 40 sector and community group meetings over the past two months.

The Central City Project Co-ordinator, Mark Bachels, said the meeting was solution orientated and a strong plea was made that youth were given greater involvement in planning.

Youth wanted input on skateboarding, graffiti arts, drop-in centres and the reasons for boredom.

On housing matters, views were expressed that people of various income levels should be able to live in the central city. Concern was raised about the safety of cyclists and pedestrians.

There was a general feeling that Christchurch should be further developing as a cultural city with more visual and performing artists. It was also felt that the city should be a centre of design excellence.

Christchurch’s Mayor Garry Moore said the meeting filled him with hope. "Christchurch has a genuine sense of community. People support each other to a degree that many other cities envy," he said.

That feeling of community was reflected in the large attendance, he said.

Mr Moore said that overseas cities undergoing revitalisation had set up management models, including partnerships and legal separate legal structures, to do the job. He believed that Christchurch would be a shared structure with a common theme.

See: Central City the Vision and submit online

Further information: Mark Bachels: 025 843 165 or 941 81579.

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