Award for Sydenham and Lyttelton Master Plans

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Christchurch City Council and Urbanismplus have received the NZPI Best Practice Award: Consultation and Participation Strategies for the Lyttelton and Sydenham Master Plans. The Lyttelton and Sydenham commercial centres were seriously damaged during the series of earthquakes in 2010 and 2011.

A custom-designed consultation process was developed to produce the Sydenham and Lyttelton Master Plans that reflected the unique time constraints and resources of the Christchurch City Council and its communities in the post-disaster environment. The process included, site visits with community leaders, issue specific focus groups, meetings with project stake holders, public feedback presentations and pre formal consultation submission opportunities.

The Master Plans are a significant step in the recovery and regeneration of these two damaged centres. The Plans have addressed urgent core elements in the centres and provided emergency solutions to address the community’s needs in the context of a clear long-tem plan. The Awards Panel commended that the approach taken in the Plans, where principles and possibilities were formulated to act as a guide, as opposed to providing only fixed-solution concepts, allows for adaptability that responds to community feedback and economic opportunities.