The team was awarded the Nancy Northcroft Planning Award, part of the 2002 Australia/New Zealand Awards for Planning Excellence, for its consultation and public involvement in developing the Charleston Neighbourhood Community Plan. The award was presented recently at the Australia/New Zealand Joint Planning Congress in Wellington.

The plan, developed in September 2000, sought to bring together the Council and the Charleston community to look at how the physical and social character of the area could be improved.

Christchurch City Council Charleston project manager Rebecca Parish says that from the start of the project, the Council worked with the local residents’ association and wider community to develop a draft plan for public consultation.

The Charleston Neighbourhood Plan was published in September 2001. Since then, the focus has been on putting it into action. Traffic-calming measures, including proposals for road narrowing, have commenced; a walk-through area is being redesigned to provide safe lighting and landscaping; plans have been prepared for street planting and upgrading the footpath next to the commercial area; while tree planting, road-threshold treatments and road platforms will continue over the next six years.

The plan has two parts. The first is a list of ideas about how to implement the plan, which can be adapted to suit any location or outcome. The second is a map of Charleston, which shows the proposals being implemented, and those which will be completed over the next six years.

Future plans include supporting community based initiatives such as tree planting, fencing and developing a community house; helping owners of older houses with design and landscaping; upgrading footpaths, kerbs and grass berms; putting overhead services underground and upgrading open spaces such as reserves and walkthrough areas.

Ms Parish says the plan will evolve as the expectations of the community change and future opportunities arise.

“The residents have put the time and energy into the plan, they’ve taken ownership, which has been a key to its success.”