Council urged to give way on street project
The Gore District Council has received a petition asking for the removal of some of its Streets Alive initiatives, including more than 460 concrete troughs, from the town’s streets.
And the results of a survey commissioned by the council about the programme won’t be known until a council meeting tomorrow.
The council has rolled out a threemonth trial of its Streets Alive project, which has changed some layouts for traffic around the town, by adding pocket parks, planters, roundabouts and courtesy crossings.
The trial is mainly funded by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s Innovative Streets fund, and it aims to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety, and reduce speeding and congestion.
The petition, which has been signed by more than 1100 people, seeks reinstatement of access to the south end of Broughton St, east end of Eccles St, and the re-opening Kitchener, Anzac and Pomona streets, which have all been closed with picket parks.
The petition also calls for the removal of planters and containers that have been deployed as part of the programme.
A memo from chief executive Steve Parry, which is included in the agenda for tomorrow’s full council meeting, says council staff have not had the opportunity to confirm the validity of the signatures in the petition.
The petition has been presented to the council by Gore residents Christopher Scoles and Rosemary Health. Scoles will address the council meeting.
Also included on the agenda are the results of the council’s own survey about the trials, which was commissioned by an independent contractor, a memo from roading asset manager Peter Standring says.
There were 607 responses online alone, which is by far the most significant response the council has received for any consultation in the last nine years, his memo says.
Survey analyst Rebecca McElrea, of McElrea Consulting, will be at the council meeting to present her findings.
‘‘Unfortunately, due to the quick turnaround time from survey closure to reporting, staff were unable to have the analysis available by the agenda deadline,’’ Standring said in the memo.
The survey was open for nine days between April 7 and April 16.
‘‘This is a relatively short time. However, it had to be kept brief, given the Streets Alive trials are for only three months,’’ Standring says in the memo.
The council has repeatedly called for an end to the vandalism of planters that have been put on the streets during the trial, and questions have been raised about the pocket park at the end of Eccles St, which blocks off one form of access to the town’s hospital and medical centre.