Hi,
I am keen to understand what you are going to do to accelerate the development of facilities in Churton Park (specifically the community/shopping centre and better access to the motorway) and ensure speedy development of the new Johnsonville Mall.
When I moved to Churton Park in early 2006, there were promises to have a new road, new community facilities and a revamped Johnsonville Mall in the near future. Nearly 5 years on, the only sign of progress is with the excavation of the new school - everything else is unchanged. This is extremely disappointing given it is in, arguably, the fastest growing suburb in Wellington City. Council focus is required and, to date, it seems to have been elsewhere.
Thanks,
Ken
Candidate Answers
Candidate
Answer
Awaiting response
Sharing the economic benefits is critical to local democracy. The local community must have its share of benefits along with the losses. Let\'s wait until we can see what the true debt profile is before we talk about more expenditrue. No empty promises from me. Council will announce the debt level on October 8.
Draw your own conclusions.
Cheers
Bryan Pepperell
Expecting to start work on the road mid- late October. Construction will start on the Middleton road side with the bridge as the first part. It is expected to take 18-24 months.
The project is to cost around $8.0 mil. NZTA have been persuaded to contribute $2.06 mil and they confirmed that after a long debate on Wedndesday this week (29/9). This funding was not budgeted so its good news. The remainder is tagged under Developer Contributions.
As well as the new road, we have $1.6m put aside for facilities in Churton Park in 2011/12. We have undertaken extensive consultation on the best use of this money to provide a good configuration of facilities for Churton Park residents and have been negotiating with the school and a local property developer to get the best arrangement.
The preferred configuration at this stage is:
- a community playground (possibly on the site of the new school with public access)
- indoor activity space also at the school - basically a hall with kitchen that could be used for active recreation and larger gatherings. There are a number of issues still to be resolved with the Ministry of Education but we are in positive discussion with them
- a smaller meeting and activity space within the proposed shopping centre - this would be a space on long term lease to be used for more passive recreation and community activities
Progress is being made in all these areas and the final configuration will be decided prior to the 2011/12 financial year.
Kerry
I agree that Churton Park needs community facilities. The community space is in the budget for 2011/12 I understand, as the shopping centre is developed. In this financial year construction of Westchester Drive will commence. We have also agreed the reserves plan for teh Stebbings area, including walkways and bush so that should be an attractive amenity. The Johnsonville mall developer has a resource consent and so it\'s up to their financial assessment when to start.
Thanksfor asking these questions.
Regards
Celia
Ken, I have consulted with the Churton Park Community Association and a great deal of the issues seem to be the lack of recognition of Churton Park as anything but a mere satellite to Johnsonville. Indeed, a lot of the issues appear to stem from the present administration viewing any suburb north of Thorndon as foreign territory. Acceleration of facilities such as a community centre—which I am convinced needs to happen, and the CA has discussed this with me—come with proper recognition of the community and its unique identity. I pledge to be fairer, for a start, and recognize your needs.
The motorway access issue is something we need to work with Transit on, but the community centre needs to be started ASAP. I support what the CA has said about the centre and will work closely with its members.
The funds appear to not be fairly provided to growing communities, though I will say we potentially face some budgetary problems with our growing city debt (depending on who you talk to, it has either doubled or trebled from the $138 million in 2004). This is why I keep saying we need to grow the economy through my creative cluster programme, so that more funds can be available from the new businesses and residents who will come here.
I have said in a recent mayoral forum at Johnsonville that I would consult with DNZ over the Mall reconstruction project. It seems there is insufficient information although consent has been granted.
