Waipā receives ‘Agent of Change’ award for cycling project
Waipā District Council was one of ten councils around Aotearoa who have been recognised for their work in trialling interim street changes, that have boosted the numbers of people walking and biking.
The Innovating Streets for People programme developed by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency provided support and funding to over 32 towns and cities to use tactical urbanism to quickly reshape their streets with temporary measures. These changes led to fewer cars, more people walking, biking and scooting, and safer and more accessible places to walk and cycle.
“Our vision is an Aotearoa where children can bike, scoot or walk to school independently, explore their neighbourhoods safely; and where you can hear birdsong instead of car engines, and streets are pleasant, sociable places,” shared Kathryn King, Urban Mobility Manager at Waka Kotahi. “Innovating Streets for People has enabled councils around Aotearoa to trial new approaches to reimagine their street spaces.”
In order to learn from the experiences of people involved, Waka Kotahi completed a full evaluation of the programme to understand the benefits and challenges of the approach.
“We recognised the massive effort that people across the country put in to give tactical urbanism a go, and the shared learning that will benefit everyone working on future projects,” said Kathryn. “The Agent for Change awards recognise the contribution people have made to creating towns and cities that people can move around freely in.”
Council’s group manager – service delivery, Dawn Inglis said the Cambridge activation was borne from a proposal from community members who assisted Council in the delivery of the ambitious work programme which received large amounts of feedback on both sides of the fence.
“We certainly received a range of feedback, split between those who supported the ethos behind the Streets for People project in creating a safe pathway for our tamariki to get to and from school safely and those who believed the activation interrupted their town commute too much.
“The massive amounts of feedback we received have been collated and analysed to help inform future cycling projects across the Waipā. Our project team and dedicated community members, worked incredibly hard to deliver this project for our community so to be recognised as a leader in this space is a wonderful achievement,” Inglis said.
The full list of Councils awarded with Agent for Change trophies in recognition of their outstanding contribution to transforming street spaces are:
- •'Create the Vibe' Thames - Thames-Coromandel District Council
- •Streets for People: Cambridge - Waipā District Council
- •Drews Avenue Arts Quarter Living Street Project - Whanganui District Council
- •Te Manawa ō Owhatiura - Rotorua Lakes District Council
- •Streets Alive - Gore District Council
- •West Quay streetscape and traffic calming improvements - Napier City Council
- •Creating Safer Streets - Emily Place - Auckland Council
- •Golden Bay High School - School Zone Trial - Tasman District Council
- •Your Streets Your Future Mangere (West) - Auckland Transport
- •Te Waka O Waihopai - Invercargill City Council
The awards were announced in a virtual ceremony on Thursday 2 December. The judging panel celebrated the diversity, boldness and creativity of the projects.
“Great things come from small beginnings,” said judge Patrick Reynolds, Board Director for Waka Kotahi. “These changes are prompted not only by the climate imperative, but they also address an intersection of so many imperatives, including safety, addressing the growth in diseases of inactivity, improving access to education, and growing economic value. These projects have contributed to quality of place, and quality of movement and safety.”
Details about the new Streets for People programme can be found here: https://nzta.govt.nz/roads-and-rail/streets-for-people/street
