Have your Say on O’Connell Street
Auckland Council have released the
draft designs for the upgrade of O’Connell Street for public comment until
Friday 14 September 2012.
The upgrade of O’Connell Street aims to create a high quality sustainable streetscape, making it a nicer place for people, and supporting businesses and residents by providing more space for outdoor activities. Located within the High Street District, heritage buildings are a key feature of the street so the design is simplistic in its approach, allowing these buildings to be showcased rather than hidden with vegetation and other street clutter.
As a very narrow street, one of the key aspects of the proposed upgrade will be to widen footpaths. To enable this, it is proposed that all but four on-street car parking spaces. In May 2012 a detailed survey was conducted by an external consultant to clearly understand the potential impact of the proposed upgrade and how the current on-street car parking spaces are being used. The survey found that over 80% of people using the car parks on O’Connell Street were not visiting businesses on O’Connell Street and over 80% of people visiting these local businesses did not use on-street car parks on the street.*
‘People are the economic powerhouse of successful, vibrant and liveable cities,’ says Ludo Campbell-Reid, Auckland Council’s design champion. Our street upgrades therefore aim to transform streets into people-friendly destinations where you can sit, relax, dine and spend time in the city’ They are an integral part of our vision to make Auckland the world’s most liveable city.’
The proposed upgrade of O’Connell Street is part of the 10 year CBD upgrade programme that begun in 2004 and is paid for by the CBD targeted rate, a special rate paid by Auckland City Centre businesses and property owners.
To give feedback and to view the proposed concept designs visit the Auckland Council website or call 09 301 0101 and ask for an O’Connell Street feedback form.
*The survey period included four interviewing shifts on different days and at different times over the week of 21-28 May. This is based on 191 parking observations, 80 intercept surveys and includes feedback from 15 businesses 183 of their customers.
