Happy to talk about Grey Street project

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Re: Doing what they want? September 26 letter.

Bonjour Simin. Let me deconstruct this scenario for you, and also some other disgruntled readers —

Tahi: TAT (Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust), as a volunteer charity, built and own the skatepark and pump track facilities. We also lobbied GDC & Waka Kotahi/NZTA to install a pedestrian crossing to allow our community to access arterial routes of Alfred Cox Park safely.

Rua: When we completed the projects we noticed more users of both assets in the area — more tamariki, rangatahi, and whanau in and around the space and place.

Toru: Ironically, GDC alerted our roopu to the Streets For People programme, a nationwide project typically delivered by councils. As local parents, caregivers and road safety advocates, we decided to apply for the programme in collaboration with GDC, to save costs on the project management aspect — the dreaded out-of-region consultancy costs that usually plague our town.

Wha: To be pragmatic; our local council do not have the means to deliver these nationwide projects — they are so fundamentally stretched by the civil infrastructure needs of our region (roading, water, etc) that any community hauora projects get shifted to the bottom of the list. Hence why we are doing this voluntary work — our town and region need positive outcomes. This project is a step in the right direction around the revitalisation of our town centre, speed reduction, modal shift, and more spaces and places for community interaction.

Rima: Thanks to the support of GDC roading we were successful in our collaborative application for funding as this kaupapa speaks to the GDC LTP strategy; the “city to the sea” conversation around the Grey Street area.

Ono: IF YOU HAVE A DESIRE TO SEE OUR COMMUNITY THRIVE AND PROSPER, INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING IN THE NEWSPAPER OR AN ONLINE FORUM, FORM A VOLUNTEER COMMUNITY TRUST, MEET WITH LOCAL COUNCIL, AND GET STUCK INTO SOME HARD MAHI. DON’T TALK ABOUT IT — BE ABOUT IT.

Whitu: Look forward to seeing you at our upcoming community road shows in late October where we can talk in person about the Grey Street project.

Haimona Ngata, Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust chairperson