Greetings from your Community Board

Highlights of our latest meeting

Our Community Board met on Friday 21 May. Some highlights of our meeting included hearing from local student Ava Rattray about her attendance at the Inter-provincial Athletics Meeting held in Palmerston North on 3 and 4 April 2021. 
We also received the  Community Board Area Report for May 2021, which gives us an overview of all the great things going on in our community.
You can read the minutes for more details of these items and other topics, and find out the dates, times and details of upcoming Community Board and Council meetings here.

Community laces up shoes for Walking Festival 

Over 500 children and parents attended the "Going on a Bear Hunt" walk in the Papanui-Innes ward last month, organised by the Shirley Communtiy Trust in partnership with our Waipapa/Papanui-Innes Community Board.

This was one of over 50 walks that made up the The Walking Festival 2021, which ran from  Saturday 17 April through the school holidays until the 2nd  of May.  

The Festival saw the return of the very popular Dogs Day Out, Gruffalo, Going on a Bear Hunt and the Generation Game.

The Festival is only possible due to the contributions of over 30 event partners who provide a great range of walks each year. Thanks very much to everyone who helped make this fantastic community event.

What's been happening in our community

ANZAC Day Memorial Services 

Emma Norrish and Simon Britten attended the Belfast ANZAC Service at the Sheldon Park Cenotaph, where a wreath was laid on behalf of the Board.  Run by Belfast/Kaiapoi Rotary, the Belfast Community Network, and Belfast Bowling Club, the service was well-attended by both young and old, and included a roll call of those locals who went to, but did not return from both world wars

Later in the morning, Emma Norrish and Mike Davidson attended the Papanui RSA’s ANZAC Parade and Service.  As always, there was a large crowd in attendance, with a number of veterans, defence force representatives, and other community representatives present.  Speeches were made, anthems were sung, wreaths and poppies were laid, the last post rang out, and moments of reflection were had by all. It would appear that people missed being able to gather to mark ANZAC Day last year due to the lockdown and made up for it by turning up in large numbers to our local services this year.

Styx River Site Visit

On Wednesday 5 May 2021 members of the Papanui-Innes and Coastal-Burwood Community Boards went on a guided bus tour of part of the Styx River and its reserves and walkway.

This enabled members to see the progress that has been made with the walkway and native plantings to enhance Christchurch’s urban regeneration corridors. The Board have requested that staff look at further options for renaming the reserve including a gifted Maori name and an English name.

Community Board funding

The Board administers various funds to support the local community, with assistance available for community groups, sports teams and individual projects.

Our Community Board recently approved funding from our 2020-21 Discretionary Response Fund for the following worthy projects:

Papanui Primary School - 150th Anniversary Celebration

$6,000 from our 2020-21 Discretionary Response Fund to Papanui Primary School towards its 150th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday 30 October. Planned activities include tree planting, a flag-raising ceremony, anniversary cake cutting, performances and educational displays, including the school Kapa Haka group. The school is planning to work with a number of local community organisations to deliver the event and Council staff will be supporting the school on the day.

 Te Ora Hou Ōtautahi - Polyphony 2021

$5,000 from our 2020-21 Discretionary Response Fund to Te Ora Hou Ōtautahi Inc towards Polyphony 2021. This event will allow young people living in Papanui to continue to build a strong sense of community, celebrate their identify and culture and have their voices heard by their whanau, peers, school and community.

Community Focus Trust - Community Development Worker

We approved $8,000 from our 2020-21 Discretionary Response Fund to Community Focus Trust towards their Community Development Worker.

Find out more about community funding or email communitygrants@ccc.govt.nz for more information.

Update on transport work around St Albans

Last month trials aimed at reducing traffic on Francis Avenue were removed to due to the traffic impact on the surrounding streets. We’re looking at temporary options to reduce speeds along Flockton Street and Francis Avenue without restricting access. We’re also working on design options that will work on a permanent basis for the wider area and we’ll be working with the local community to get their input into this

The peak hour bus lane trial along Cranford Street between Innes Road and Berwick Street is coming to an end. The bus lane will remain in place for now as we are still analysing the time savings for buses and gathering community feedback on how it is working. You can submit your feedback here.

We’re continuing to monitor traffic levels around the whole neighbourhood to see what streets are being impacted. You can see the traffic counts we’re collecting and sign up for e-newsletter updates at this web page.

Planting days to bring workmates together

Grab your workmates, pop on a pair of gloves, pick up a spade and help plant thousands of trees to offset carbon emissions and mark World Environment and Arbor Day.

Conservation Volunteers New Zealand (CVNZ) is hosting their first, big Cranford Basin community planting day of the winter season on Saturday 29 May, in conjunction with Christchurch City Council.  
 

• The planting day is on Saturday 29 May, 10am-12pm. Meet at 103 Philpotts Road. Gumboots or sturdy footwear and gloves are essential. The Richmond Community Gardens will be providing soup for volunteers who bring their own mug.
• Register for the community planting day.
• If you want to enquire about arranging a staff day out, contact Donna Lusby at CVNZ on dlusby@cvnz.org.nz

Come along to our Adult Bicycle Skills sessions

Council have teamed up with Odlin Cycle Coaching to offer free bike skills sessions until the end of June.

These are opportunities to build confidence and skills riding in different road environments and to get personalised advice on riding safely. The course is split into three 45 minute sessions, over three weeks.

Check out the session times, along with more information here:

·         christchurchcyclecoaching.co.nz/workshops

·         facebook.com/Adult.Bicycle.Skills.Training

Spaces are limited, so please book once you’re comfortable committing to a time.  The course will be run in small groups, so there’s plenty of personalised advice in a supportive environment. The team are very experienced in catering the course to the meet the needs of the group.

Climate action at centre of Christchurch Conversations

A series of free public events aimed at sparking discussions about how Christchurch can reach its 2030 climate change targets gets under way at Tūranga at the end of this month.

The Christchurch Conversations – Towards 2030 events are being organised by Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture and City Making and are aimed at helping people understand how their actions can make a difference.

Each event will cover a different topic and feature a diverse range of thought-provoking speakers and activities – from local experts providing the latest information, to local businesses and residents sharing their experiences and actions.

The first event on Sunday 30 May will focus on how changing the way we move around the city can increase wellbeing, reduce costs and cut emissions.