`Streets Alive’ is the Gore community’s opportunity to dream big about improvements it wants for its town.
The Gore District Council has succeeded in attracting $900,000 of central government funding from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s innovating streets fund to undertake the Streets Alive project.
Gore District Deputy Mayor and project champion Cr Bronwyn Reid said obtaining the funding has presented a unique opportunity.
“Our town has a history of innovation and a can-do attitude. The Streets Alive project is our generation’s opportunity to contribute to making our town an even more enjoyable, more vibrant and safer place for everybody who lives here.”
Gore’s streets were built wide enough for a cart and horse to turn around, before being sealed and made suitable for motorised vehicles.
“Our town was first settled in the early 1860s. Back then people looked to the future in building the streets and townscape. Now it’s our opportunity to look to the future as our forebearers did, and say `what could we do to make Gore an even better place to live?” Cr Reid says.
“Streets Alive is a really exciting moment for our generation when our community can contribute to the future vision of Gore and how the town evolves into the future.”
A year-long project, Streets Alive will start with a period of collaborative engagement with the community. Ideas gathered during this engagement will then be incorporated into a trial of adjustments to Gore’s streetscape and more feedback will be sought to determine if any suggested changes become permanent.
From the end of July, the Council will start engaging with local community groups and then the wider community using both traditional and online communication channels to gather the community’s ideas. The programme will include public drop-in sessions, a survey and other community activities.
“This will be a community-driven project. We want to hear from residents about ways we could make our town more people-friendly, a safer place to move around, and a place with more vibrant and engaging public spaces,” Cr Reid says.
“It’s about giving everybody – including our more vulnerable road users such as older people and people with disabilities – more options and choices. We’re in a privileged position in that we are the first small town in New Zealand to receive this funding.”
“Watch out for more information over the coming months about how you could get involved. We really want the community to grasp this opportunity with both hands, and be part of the vision for Gore’s future.”
Nationally, there is a push to make New Zealand towns and cities more people-friendly and safer for people using all modes of transport. Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is contributing 90% of the funding and the Gore District Council 10% ($100,000).
Streets Alive will build on Council’s existing strategies and initiatives. These include developing local cycling tracks and the existing streetscape strategy.