Chch City Council wants public feedback on City Mall design

15 September 2006

Christchurch City Council is seeking public feedback on a proposal to redevelop 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, says Mayor Garry Moore.

Earlier this month the City Council approved a package of central city strategies and projects, including sending the $10.5 million 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 changes will tie into other work being done with businesses to make the area more attractive to shoppers.

Mr Moore says "the City Mall project is key to Central City Revitalisation. I am excited by the proposed plan and urge anyone interested to have their say during this consultation period."

Maurice Roers, the Council’s senior central city planner, says there is no one magic bullet to City Mall’s ills. "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 and reorganising and replanting trees to improve sightlines and visibility.

It also suggests 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.

● Information about the proposed design and feedback forms will be available on Monday at Council service centres and libraries and the Civic Offices on Tuam Street. The material and an on-line submission form will be on the Council’s website, at www.ccc.govt.nz/HaveYourSay from Monday 18 September.

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