Whanganui District Council has scrapped plans for a revamp of lower Victoria Ave, after last-minute opposition from some businesses in the area. Photo / Supplied
Whanganui District Council has scrapped plans for a revamp of lower Victoria Ave, after last-minute opposition from some businesses in the area. Photo / Supplied
The planned lower Victoria Ave revamp has been scrapped only days before construction was set to begin on the project.
The decision by the Town Centre Regeneration Steering Committee was announced on Monday evening, following a week of negotiations with some local businesses which opposed the project.
The project involved installing a number of outdoor seating areas, or parklets, in place of 10 parking spaces, alongside painted street art inspired by local iwi. Construction was due to begin on Sunday.
The project was to be a six-month trial, 90 per cent funded by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, with the remaining 10 per cent coming from Whanganui District Council.
The letter was written by Jolt Cafe owner Mark Dyhrberg on behalf of 10 signatories - all local businesses in the affected area.
Town Centre Regeneration Steering Group chairwoman and councillor Helen Craig said the group met with affected people last Wednesday to work through their concerns.
At the meeting the steering group suggested an alternative parking area on unused land at 1 Victoria Ave. While this proposal wasn't confirmed, project manager Ellen Young said the idea was "promising".
Construction on the project was due to begin on Sunday. Photo / Bevan Conley
The Chronicle understands that a number of signatories to the original letter shifted their position after the alternative parking proposal was put forward.
That put a majority of local businesses in support of the project, but a small number remained firm in their opposition.
"Following on from this meeting, the council's Town Centre Regeneration Steering Group met on Friday, August 6, to consider the viability of the project, given the objections raised," Craig said.
"Further engagement with stakeholders occurred over the weekend, but agreement could not be reached.
"As a trial project, it was absolutely vital that there was buy-in from those stakeholders in the immediate vicinity. It's unfortunate, but without their full support, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the project. I'm sure there will be others like myself in the community who will view this as a lost opportunity."
In a social media post, Whanganui District councillor Josh Chandulal-Mackay said he was "hugely disappointed".
"From what I observed the Whanganui Town Centre Regeneration Project Team ran a robust engagement process and responded to stakeholder concerns, by down-scaling the project early in the process in order to cater to as many viewpoints as possible, they facilitated multiple engagement workshops and conversations and should be congratulated for their work.
"This result has cost time, financial and non-financial resources, taxpayer money, and represents a lost opportunity to inject a real burst of innovation and energy into the lower block, the 'gateway to Whanganui'."
Young said everything possible was done to accommodate ideas put forward by stakeholders, but agreement could not be reached.
"Three workshops and multiple one-on-one meetings were held along with consistent communication throughout," Young said.
"Many of the ideas in the design were contributed or influenced by the feedback we received.
"Parking was a real concern for some businesses. We offered an alternative parking solution which would have offset all the parking spaces needed for the street features such as seating. While some stakeholders were agreeable, there were others who rejected this offer."
Whanganui District Council's general manager for regulatory and planning Hamish Lampp. Photo / File
Young said on Tuesday the construction of most of the outdoor furniture had been completed ready for installation on Sunday, and it would now be placed in storage.
Young said at this stage it was unknown how much of the $500,000 funding pool had already been spent.
Hamish Lampp, the council's general manager for regulatory and planning, commended the efforts of the staff who had been tasked to put the project together.
"We have worked within tight timeframes and acknowledge this has been difficult for some stakeholders to accept.
"I take my hat off to the project team who've been up against significant challenges, particularly a consultation process involving stakeholders with such mixed views. Emotions have run high and, even with some criticism becoming personal, staff have remained professional throughout. They are to be commended."
Mixed views among business owners
Jolt Cafe owner Mark Dyhrberg said in a statement the council's decision was the right one.
"This was always about more than parking and parklets however, quite simply, the process was flawed and this did not become evident until late in the piece.
"Robust consultation would have identified issues along the way and sorted them out. Sadly, it was felt by some that this did not happen."
He said while he opposed the loss of car parking, he didn't necessarily have any opposition to a general beautification project, as long as it didn't seriously affect businesses.
"Our block is scheduled for roading and tree maintenance in the not too distant future and it made no sense to disrupt the ability of customers to access the block twice," Dyhrberg said.
"The preferred option is to include beautification and other measures when maintenance occurs, in a truly collaborative manner, rather than the 'free money let's spend it quickly' approach with little regard for those businesses that already create our block's vibe."
The project was set to see 10 CBD carparks transformed into outdoor seating areas, similar to those seen in this concept drawing. Photo / Supplied
Paula Wade, owner of The Edge Beauty and Top Draw Lingerie, said while she respected the views of other businesses along the street, she was in support of the project going ahead.
"My take on it is that change is difficult, and it takes some people a long time to accept and adapt to, but I think change is good. If we don't change, things will stay the same.
"My worry is that if there's no change, then this block will get left behind and it'll be a long time before we get an opportunity for anything to happen to this block again."
Wade said overall she liked the concept designs and the idea behind the project, but also understood the concerns around parking, for which she believed an alternative was suggested in the last week.
"What I've discovered in the last few weeks was there had to be compromise on both sides. Some were happy with the adjustments, but others weren't."
Wade said it was a shame that the project had been canned as there was a genuine desire for it to go ahead if the opposing parties could have reached an agreement.
"Other areas within the block could have been looked at as a concession, but I also understand the timeframes behind it."
A number of lower Victoria Ave business owners declined to comment.
