Word from our Mayor Kirsten Wise
When we set our strategic vision as a council, earlier this year, we gave a lot of thought to what we can do for our city and its neighbourhoods: “Enabling places and spaces where everybody wants to be”. We want people to feel comfortable, welcome and safe. We want spaces in our city and its environs that people want to spend time in, whether it’s in the outdoors enjoying all that Napier has to offer in terms of recreation, or in our built environment, urban centres, and streetscapes.
Napier is rich in the volume and value of our shared spaces. We have wonderful parks but we also have spaces other cities are lacking, which give us our character. We have a parade or promenade, laneways, squares and a piazza. With the soundshell and the adjoining lawn, the war memorial pavilion, the seaside and its wonderful walkways, the wide streets of places like Hershell Street and Hastings Street, we are lucky our city founders had the foresight to create such community spaces.
Known as ‘third places’ these are sites of community connection, where events and meet-ups take place, either planned or ad hoc. They are the spaces between work and home, places that belong to us all. We take real ownership of them when we have positive experiences and we can see ourselves, and our stories, reflected in them.
When Nuit Blanche happened in October as part of the Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival we could see this idea come to life. The streets became a massive, public living room. Every type of person was present and part of it. We shared the streets and the spaces in between, whether we were there to hear soul music or a DJ, eat pizza or tacos, watch bubbles, circus tricks, or a movie. The spaces and places of Napier City welcomed everyone and Napier became the place everyone wanted to be.
As we move through the design phase of our new landmark - and cornerstone - of the city with the Te Aka project, we are thinking about how to create more of these shared spaces.
Te Aka is about designing and constructing Napier’s new library and civic building including a place for public and council meetings. Concept designs for the buildings and outdoor space were recently approved by Council and we’ll see further refinements of these high-level designs in early 2024. The new library’s design will reflect what is unique about Napier and the stories important to us. We’ll see how the outdoor space surrounding the library contributes to Napier’s sense of community and place. When finished, it'll be somewhere we can celebrate, commemorate and collaborate.
Napier’s a wonderful place to explore because of these journeys through shared spaces. Some need a tidy up I agree, some are much loved and well used, some have huge potential for a rethink, some have had attention and now are better of because of it. As you journey, you’ll come across poetry, murals, fairylights, quotes, sculptures, planting, signs from shops long gone. Some pathways are cobbled, others painted, one I know has
Astro turf! Ours is a vibrant city full of character and we all benefit from the time we spend together in its spaces and places.