Props to WCC for the draft Wellington 2040 framework. This is just a framework and there’s a lot of work ahead, but I’m excited by what that work will produce if carried out by a good team of architects, designers, and planners. Of course producing great masterplans for our precincts is one thing, but it will amount to nothing if the Council doesn’t make the right decisions to bring those plans to fruition. These will be long term decisions, the benefits of which often won’t be realised until after the councillors making the decision have moved on.
Anyway, oddly, on reading the framework I couldn’t help but notice that half of Te Aro is suspiciously missing. Here’s the Victoria Precinct getting some serious attention in the landscape section, note the creation and reinforcement of connections, and just all round busyness going on in this picture.
Here’s the other side of Taranaki St, aka SoCo…
Err, why no love? It’s not just in this section, it’s all throughout the framework. A lot of attention is given to what could become of the Victoria precinct, but little to no attention given to SoCo. Of course this is only a framework, and the SoCo area should end up being properly addressed in one of the precinct masterplans that are meant to follow this. But here’s a few things I hope to see come through to improve pedestrian connectivity in this area (there’s absolutely none at the moment through the southern super block).
- Extend Ebor St to Taranaki St when the Capital City Motors site is redeveloped.
- Extend Alpha St, Fifeshire Ave, and Barker St when redvelopments permit.
- Protect pedestrian rights of way through the Methodist Church to Holland St, from Holland St north through the lane to Courtenay Plc, and through Moore Wilson’s.
- Develop a chain of midblock pedestrian connections from Ebor St southwards to Jessie St, Vivian St, and Frederick St.
- Provide a connection between Sages Ln to St Martin’s Sq.
- Of course ultimately I’d like to see Abel Tasman St extended to Cambridge Tce too. But that’s probably a hard sell.
WTF is SoCo you say? It’s the area South of Courtenay, for lack of a better name this works for me. Credit to Tom Beard for the term.