Sumner Village Centre Master Plan community drop-in sessions
Christchurch City Council, along with the Joint Advisory Group for Sumner Village Centre (JAG), will launch focus group and community drop-in sessions as part of the Suburban Centres Programme for Sumner Village Centre next week.
A master plan will be developed for Sumner Village Centre with input from community leaders, building and business owners, central and regional government agencies, other stakeholders and interest groups and local residents.
JAG Chairperson David Cox says the focus group and community drop-in sessions mark an important milestone for the community and a step toward a process to rebuild Sumner’s quake-affected suburban shopping centre.
“The Joint Advisory Group recognises the efforts and achievements of the Sumner Community Group and the Sumner Urban Design Group in working with the Sumner community. They have pulled together a vast amount of local knowledge – they know what they value about their centre and what they want to improve. These sessions will give the Council an opportunity to better understand the work that has already been done by the community.
“We are confident we now have a suitable process for preparing a community-led master plan for Sumner Village Centre that can utilise that information. However, we still need to gather community comments at the focus group and community drop-in sessions to make sure we have captured all the issues facing the village centre and have heard any new ideas,” he says.
Mayor Bob Parker says the hard work put in by the Joint Advisory Group and Council staff to get these sessions up and running has paid off. “I am pleased that we are at a point where we can go ahead with this much anticipated master plan for Sumner’s Village Centre.”
“The earthquakes have created a real need for local people to get involved in the rebuilding and recovery of their suburban centres and these focus group and community drop-in sessions will give the Sumner community an opportunity to air their views, share ideas and prioritise what they consider important or valued about their centre,” he says.
Sumner Village Centre community drop-in sessions:
Monday 23 April 6.30pm to 8pm and
Thursday 26 April 1pm to 2.30pm
Our Lady, Star of the Sea School Hall, 45 Colenso Street, Sumner.
Background information
The Hagley/Ferrymead Community Board approved the formation of a Joint Advisory Group in February 2012 to provide guidance and direction to the community-led master planning process for Sumner Village Centre.
The Joint Advisory Group is made up of team members for: the Community Board members, representatives of the Sumner Residents’ Association, the Sumner Urban Design Team and the Sumner business community, as well as Christchurch City Council staff.
Suburban Centres Programme background information
In June 2011 the Council approved a programme to rebuild quake-affected suburban shopping centres. A programme of work has been approved to support the recovery and rebuild of up to 60 suburban centres through assisting with planning, design and transport initiatives.
The Suburban Centres Programme features two streams of work; one stream involves the development of ‘master plans’ for some of the worst affected shopping centres and the other stream involves the appointment of ‘case managers’ to other affected centres that may require assistance with planning their rebuild.
For further information on the project contact: suburbancentres@ccc.govt.nz.
Or visit www.ccc.govt.nz/suburbancentres