END OF AN ERA: Porirua's famous canopies are coming down

PORIRUA city councillors and retailers are forecasting an upswing for the city’s tired shopping area now revamp plans are finalised.

The revitalisation scheme – a public-private partnership between Porirua City Council and commercial investors – aims to re-establish the city as the northern suburbs’ premier retail destination.

Plans include a new main street offering better access to the rail station, opening the Serlby Pl pedestrian zone to traffic, and converting the Cobham Court carpark into a green oasis.

A new parking building may be needed to replace the spaces lost from Cobham Court, and to cope with extra demand from shoppers, says council spokesperson Moana Wyatt.

But the council’s City Centre Revitalisation Plan also suggests new property developments could offer parking on the first floor, between ground floor retail/commercial and upper-floor residential.

The city’s distinctive white canopies, installed in 1994 to great fanfare and at a cost of nearly $4 million, will come down.

While offering protection from the elements, the canopies are widely criticised for blocking sunlight and obstructing views from upper floors.

Ms Wyatt says all the proposals are aimed at making the area more attractive to prospective business tenants and shoppers.

She says a lot of thought has also gone into improving traffic flows towards the central shopping precinct.

The CBD’s current traffic layout is “counter-intuitive”, according to the revitalisation plan, especially around the shopping centre’s north-eastern corner.

The lack of a clear east-west route into the central business area has contributed to Porirua’s problems, it says.

“A logical solution would be to unlock the core area between Lyttelton Ave and Hagley St by providing a new main shopping street through the centre of the retail/commercial area.”

Porirura Chamber of Commerce executive director Simon Calvert says the city’s retail attractions, including the North City and Mega Centre retail complexes, are too spread out and isolated.

Better pedestrian walkways would help, he says, but improving the central shopping precinct is key.

“At the moment we have a vibrant Mega Centre and a vibrant North City, but a CBD which is not as vibrant as it could be. And this needs to change.

“If your heart’s not beating, I don’t care how healthy your extremities are.”

While the plan’s major components are now finalised, there are still some details still to be worked out.

For example, the district plan will need to be amended to allow the kind of mixed-use commercial developments the council envisages.

But Mr Calvert says it is vital that the revitalisation plans go ahead: “This is the number one priority for the city for the next 10 years.

“Get this right, and the city sets itself up well for the future. Get this wrong, and we’ll be repeating the mistakes of the past.”

Take a tour of the new plan in this photo essay (some information courtesy of the Dominion Post):