Council recovery plans win national planning awards

Earthquake recovery plans developed by the Christchurch City Council have won two best practice awards at the annual New Zealand Planning Institute Awards.

The Council’s Draft Central City Recovery Plan for the redevelopment of the Central City won the Best Practice Award: Strategic Planning and Guidance and the Sydenham and Lyttelton Master Plans won the Best Practice Award: Consultation and Participation Strategies.

The awards recognise outstanding creativity, innovation and service.

While the judges noted that the Central City Recovery Plan was a draft, they considered it was “worthy of the Strategic Planning and Guidance Best Practice Award on the basis of the processes followed, the timeframe within which the Plan was prepared, the quality of the documents’ presentation and ultimately its unique nature in New Zealand planning”.

The Awards Panel also acknowledged the challenging post-disaster circumstances under which the Plan was prepared, with its short timeframe, significant public interest and uncertainty over the changing physical, economic and legislative environments.

The extent of the consultation process for the Sydenham and Lyttelton Master Plans impressed the Awards Panel, from the site visits with community leaders, issue-specific focus groups, meetings with project stakeholders, public feedback presentations and submission opportunities to an understanding of people’s physical and emotional loss, design and development ideas, and practical resource and investment realities.

“The process to develop the Sydenham and Lyttelton Draft Master Plans was a significant step in the recovery and regeneration of these two damaged centres. The Plans have addressed urgent core elements in the centres and provided emergency solutions to address the community’s needs in the context of a clear long-term plan.”

The Awards Panel commended the approach taken in the Plans, where principles and possibilities were formulated to act as a guide as opposed to providing only fixed-solution concepts, thus allowing for adaptability that can respond to community feedback and economic opportunities. The Master Plans were developed in conjunction with Urbanism + Ltd.

City Council Strategy & Planning General Manager Mike Theelen says both projects were significant pieces of work completed by Council staff following the recent earthquakes and it is fantastic to have the work recognised by their peers.