Monthly Archives: March 2011

New pedestrian crossing in Pirie Street

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Following the consultation over the Pirie Street bus tunnel and representations by local residents, WCC Councillors instructed officers to look at the possibility of putting a pedestrian crossing in Pirie Street to make it easier for school children to cross this increasingly busy road. Officers have proposed two possible alternatives, one close to the dairy near Porritt Avenue, and one halfway between Porritt Avenue and Brougham Street:


Option1: The new crossing near the Porritt Avenue intersection


Option 2: The new crossing between Porritt Ave and Brougham Street

The officers report notes that around 50 pedestrians per hour cross Pirie Street during peak times, with about 150-210 vehicle movements in the same period. This falls well short of the NZTA guidelines for installing a pedestrian crossing, but given the relentlessly anti-pedestrian biases of the NZ Transport Agency that’s hardly surprising. In our view, given that ratepayers on foot should have the same priority as ratepayers in cars, a pedestrian crossing is fully justified.

The other impact of a pedestrian crossing will be a reduction in the number of carparks in Pirie Street. However there are ample coupon parks that can be re-purposed in the immediate area as residents parks, so there should not be any negative impact on local residents.

The Mt Victoria Residents Association will be making submissions to the Council supporting the pedestrian crossing, and the Council welcomes feedback and input from anyone who has a view (positive or negative) about the proposed changes. You can make your thoughts known to Stuart Bullen from WCC on 04 803 8242 or email stuart.bullen@wcc.govt.nz.

Festival raises more than $2,000 for Lyttelton earthquake relief

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Bill Southworth, Chair of the Crossways Community Trust, has announced that a donation of $2,033.63 has been made to Project Lyttelton, an incorporated charitable society that works to create a vibrant and sustainable local community, to assist with earthquake relief. The money was collected from generous donations made at the Mt Victoria Festival last weekend.

“The Trust is very glad to be able to assist the people of Lyttelton with their recovery from the devastating earthquake”, said Mr Southworth. “We’re confident that the money will be going to grass-roots community initiatives to help hard-hit Lyttelton residents to get back on their feet. And the Trust would like to thank everyone who gave so generously to our collection at the Festival.”

Margaret Jeffries, Chairperson of Project Lyttelton said “We have good systems in place to channel monies that come in for the use of the wider community, and Project Lyttelton is taking on a guardian role to ensure this happens fairly. All monies will be marked by the people who donate and be directed where they are needed and in accordance with the wishes of the donors. We’d like to thank the Crossways Community Trust and the people of Wellington for their generous assistance and support.”

We wish them every success with their recovery and rebuilding efforts.