The planter boxes on Waipawa’s main street are traffic calming measures.
The planter boxes on Waipawa’s main street are traffic calming measures.
While some are welcoming the developments on Waipawa’s main street, others are scratching their heads over the perceived proliferation of planter boxes along the thoroughfare.
Questions abound including why there are so many plantings, why are some “rusty metal” and others “sheep troughs” and who is going to maintain and water the new crop of gardens?
The planter boxes are part of the Government-funded Streets For People programme. In 2022 Central Hawke’s Bay was one of 13 councils selected by the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi to receive funding for the programme, which is focused on improving safety, connectivity and active transport options.
For the Waipawa Project, NZTA has contributed $1.5 million in funding, while the council has contributed $170k in kind, most of which is staff time.
The primary objective of Streets for People is to make streets safer for all users and more user-friendly. The Waipawa project is a large one that includes pedestrian crossings, a roundabout, signage, road-markings and plants and the finishing touch - planter boxes.
The project was co-designed with members of the community, retailers, mana whenua, local police, landscape architects, roading engineers from NZTA and council staff.
Central Hawke’s Bay District Council chief executive Doug Tate says the road changes are temporary, with the interventions able to be adapted after seeing what works or doesn’t, or even removed if they are not successful. The road changes have included pedestrian crossings, road markings and a roundabout.
Community consultation on the project is open until this Sunday, September 15.
The corten steel planters were made by Waipawa firm CHB Engineering.
The planter boxes are traffic calming measures - physical signals to people they need to adjust their speed. Traffic calming measures can be anything from speed signs, raised crossings, speed bumps, road cones, road paintings, and objects that indicate to the driver the context of where they are driving, and encourage them to adjust their speed.
All interventions, including the placement of the planter boxes, were assessed through safety audits by qualified road safety engineers
Waipawa’s CHB Engineering designed and made the corten steel planters, which cost $1350 each, and Turtons in Waipukurau provided the concrete trough planters at $410 each. They were designed to reflect the town’s rural heritage and inspired by Waipawa Museum, says Tate, “bringing a piece of rural New Zealand’s history to the main street”.
The council is responsible for the planting and watering of the plants, which were chosen to complement the existing greenery and climate within Waipawa and are easily maintained.
Each planter box has a self-watering system: there is a little reservoir ensuring water is consistently available, nutrients are retained, and plants are only watered when needed.
Tate says “The project’s framework was about collaboration with the community for the community, and a lot of research, consultation and thought has gone into it.
“The community came to us with a petition in 2020 to slow vehicle traffic through Waipawa before it’s too late.
All the planters are moveable, as the project is still in its trial period.
“All the way through we have been doing this project in conjunction with the community, and it’s not yet over. We’re still working with the community on this project. It is a trial and if it’s not working or meeting the objectives of the programme, adjustments will be made. We want to deliver safer streets for everyone.
“We’re still in the trial period and will be making necessary adjustments – which may include repositioning or removing planter boxes – if the interventions are not achieving the objectives of the programme. We genuinely want feedback and submissions can be made on letstalkchb.co.nz until 11.59pm on September 15.”
We are currently working on Waipawa’s Town Centre Plan. There will be a number of projects within this, all of which have come about from community input, including using $100k of Better-Off Funding for revitalising the town centre, and addressing water and roading issues.
The community consultation on ‘Streets for People’ closes at 11.59pm on Sunday, September 15. All feedback alongside independent research monitoring the changes will be considered. Findings will be shared with the community.
