Help is at hand to get city centre project up and running soon

Mistaken priorities and multimillion- dollar funding gaps in Porirua City Council’s City Centre Revitalisation Plan will be ironed out with the appointment of a project management group next week, council officers hope.

The project management group will be appointed at a publicexcluded council meeting on March 7, council general manager of strategy and planning Moira Lawler says.

The appointment follows a recommendation from Positively Wellington Waterfront in a June 2011 report commissioned by the council.

Wellington Waterfront Ltd were asked to give a ‘‘ commercial reality check’’ on the council’s 2009 revitalisation document, according to its report which has been obtained by Kapi- Mana News.

A $3.02 million budget for the redevelopment of Cobham Court and the canopies area is well short of the minimum $6m it would cost to remove and replace the canopies, repair shopfronts after canopy renovation, and improve Serlby Pl, Hartham Pl and Cobham Ct, the report says.

The council had originally intended to remove the canopies without putting up an alternative rain and wind shelter, and had budgeted $637,000 for the work. Wellington Waterfront says a shelter replacement is essential.

Shopfront repairs should be covered by businesses affected, Ms Lawler says.

‘‘The council doesn’t own most of the buildings under the canopies. The cost is the buildings’ owners’.’’

Development of the canopies area should not proceed until funding is available to do the whole project in one go, Welling- ton Waterfront Ltd recommends.

‘‘The nature of the work and public expectation is such that staging of the work is not a viable option,’’ its report reads.

Instead, the council should focus on developing a residential and recreational hub on the harbourfront, Porirua’s best asset, the report says.

Some businesses in Mega Centre could open ‘‘mini’’ versions of their shops on a planned ‘‘main street’’ along Hagley St and Norrie St, freeing up space for housing near the harbour, the report suggests.

Further accommodation

for students could be developed around Cobham Ct, it says.

Ms Lawler says the report’s recommendations are all just ideas at this stage, and final details and a timeframe for the city centre will be decided soon after the project management team is in place.

Eric Jones, manager of canopy advocacy group Canopy Connection, says business owners do not have a unified opinion on Positively Wellington Waterfront’s suggestions.

The group is waiting on information from the council to to make an informed response, he says.