After months of works and public consultation, the comprehensive Invercargill city centre master plan is complete and the Invercargill City Council is seeking community feedback on the next steps for the ambitious project.

But the $20 million dollar master plan won’t be achieved without some tough decisions from city councillors, says City Centre Governance Group chairman John Green.

Mr Green, who is also the chief executive of H&J Smith, took councillors through the proposed plan at Infrastructural Services committee meeting yesterday (Tuesday, December 1).

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The plan changes to carparking had the potential to be a “contentious issue.”

“If we want people to come to our business, we’ve got to be accessible,” he said.

The plan proposes to remove car parks from Esk Street to make the area more people focused and drive foot traffic, making the city more vibrant and accessible for pedestrians.

Mr Green said it was normal to walk one or two kilometres from the car to the shops in Dunedin or Christchurch.

Invercargill people needed to get used to not expecting to find a park right outside the shop they wanted to visit, he said. 

“What we have to do is find a balance . . . For the retailers in Esk Street there is a trade-off. We’re losing some of those parks right outside in exchange for hundreds of people who are going to be working in some of those buildings . . . and for the people that are going to be visiting that car park,” Mr Green said.

About 700 new car parks would be built within the Invercargill Central Limited development, which Mr Green said more than made up for losing the Esk Street parks.

“People do the shopping, not the cars,” he said. 

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Councillors praised the city centre master plan report and unanimously agreed on the eight recommendations contained within it.

Nobby Clark said the plan – which concentrates on Esk, Don, Kelvin, Tay, and Dee Streets – was a stunning piece of work.

Lesley Soper said the plan was a “comprehensive and complete package,” and thanked the governance group for its hard work completing it. 

The City Centre Governance Group was established to link the community to the master plan project team.

Members include ILT chief executive Chris Ramsey, SBS Bank chief executive Shaun Drylie, iwi representative Michael Skerrett, councillors Ian Pottinger and Alex Crackett, and Isthmus Principal David Irwin from Auckland.

The council will now seek feedback from the wider community on the master plan before it is presented to the Infrastructural Services Committee meeting in February 2021 for endorsement.

Darren Edwards, the council group manager – environmental and planning services, said gathering community views was an important step. 

“The master plan itself is just the start of the process. It offers a framework for future projects, along with guidance on how we can make the city centre work better for people,” Mr Edwards said. 

Urban design specialists, Isthmus Group, began preparing the master plan in June.

Four key city centre problems have been identified: a lack of pride from the community, lack of energy and vibrancy, lack of places for people within the city centre and a lack of connections to the wider city and natural environment.