Once the initial design concepts are revealed, the community will have further opportunities to have their say. Photo / Supplied
Once the initial design concepts are revealed, the community will have further opportunities to have their say. Photo / Supplied
The Whanganui community will have a chance to see initial design concepts for the Streets for People Guyton St project early next month.
“Draft design reveal” workshops will be held at Cooks Gardens events centre on Thursday, May 4.
The Whanganui District Council project, which is 90 per cent funded by the Government through Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, focuses on the section of Guyton St between St Hill and Wicksteed Sts.
So far the council has carried out four community co-design workshops to gather ideas and get a sense of the community’s priorities for the area.
Community property and places general manager Sarah O’Hagan said the co-design workshops were a new process for the council that had proved effective.
“For this project, we’ve really emphasised that we’re up for hearing any suggestions the community may have for Guyton St and, in response, workshop participants have come back with lots of interesting, well-reasoned ideas.”
O’Hagan said the consultation process had included direct engagement with iwi, the youth council and various community advocacy groups and, after some robust debate, some clear themes had emerged which had helped shape the design approach.
“The community has told us they’d like to feel safer when crossing the road, they’ve told us that the intersection with Wicksteed St is problematic and they’ve told us they’d love to see new life breathed into this culturally significant, historic Whanganui street to make it a greener, vibrant, more inviting destination for everyone – not just those using cars.”
Other emerging themes included a desire for the designs to reflect Whanganui’s identity, to match up well with the heritage values of the surrounding area and to consider the future, especially climate change and flood risk.
O’Hagan said the project team had built some great relationships with the businesses and property owners in central Guyton St, including Guyton Group Trust.
“We’ve been lucky to have a highly motivated group of stakeholders on the street who aren’t just accepting change – they’re embracing it,” O’Hagan said.
“Case in point is local property developer Richard White who owns the block of land next to Mischief Café. After attending several workshops, he decided to offer the use of some of his land for a new parklet area on Guyton St – where people can enjoy a coffee and relax with comfortable seating and shade.
“Similarly, Hadleigh Reid, one of the owners of 73 Guyton St, has offered us the use of the alleyway next to Shotz Bar, colloquially known as ‘pigeon alley’. The alleyway was a common topic at workshops, with the community asking for work to beautify it and dissuade pigeons from roosting in it.”
Guyton St stakeholders are embracing change. Photo / Bevan Conley
O’Hagan said the Guyton St regeneration synchronised nicely with the Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua redevelopment.
“We expect the upgraded Sarjeant Gallery will bring increased numbers of visitors to Whanganui from when it opens in mid-2024. Developing Guyton St will enhance the approach to the gallery and the overall visitor experience.”
O’Hagan said while the design team at Patchwork Studio now had a good idea of the community’s priorities for Guyton St, the community would have further opportunities to have a say.
“When we present our draft design concepts, we’ll essentially be asking people ‘Have we got this right?’ So there’ll certainly still be opportunities to make further changes. And another thing to keep in mind is that this project uses adaptive design principles. That means we’re trialling changes using non-permanent infrastructure – so we’ll be able to listen to the community over the course of the two-year trial and make changes accordingly.”
The workshops for the Guyton St project are on Thursday, May 4, at 1pm and 5.30pm. Everyone is welcome, regardless of whether or not they attended previous workshops.
