“This will be a positive for our local businesses,” she said.
“It's a great opportunity to make our main street more inviting and user-friendly for all ages.”
The project will reinvigorate the township, create a vibrant space and give the community its main street back, says Jason Lines, who is part of Tapuwae Tairāwhiti Trails, which is leading the project.
“It's a massive opportunity.”
Mr Lines says now funding has been approved, they will work closely with the Uawa community.
“This is the exciting bit where it's a mix of creativity and ideas that shape the ‘what-ifs' and ‘can we try' from all ages and abilities.
“We have a community that is very proactive and wants to take back ownership of its town.
“The Uawa community has had more than its share of neglect over the years and while this is a small project, it will make a huge difference to the feeling of community ownership by enhancing the town with spaces for people and not just cars and trucks.”
Mr Lines says Gisborne district councillor Pat Seymour has been a big advocate of this project, which will also complement the Uawa Trails project of creating a five-kilometre cycleway around Uawa's main centre.
In Gisborne, the Grey Street Linear Park project is being led by Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust (TAT).
It covers the area from the roundabout on Childers Road to the new pedestrian crossing by the skatepark.
TAT owns the new skatepark and pump track across the road.
It was while developing these areas that trustees realised the potential of opening some arterial routes so the community could access these new active recreation facilities by bike, scooter or skateboard.
“Basically any mode of transport that doesn't involve a car,” Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust chairman Haimona Ngata said.
“If we get this project really dialled in, there's no reason we couldn't push it further or transform another street in the Gisborne CBD.”
“There are massive issues with our community not feeling safe using the roads here, and that's warranted right now.
“Let's look at roads differently. How do we take our foot off the gas to look after all our road users?
“The kid riding their bike to school and the logging truck on its way to the port are both users of the road, and both have a right to be on the road.”
Mr Ngata says with funding confirmed, it is time to sit down with key stakeholders, business owners on Grey Street and local mana whenua.
“Grey Street is our main arterial route that connects our city directly to the sea, or the awa to the moana.
“We're aware there is a high volume of commercial and commuter traffic that uses Grey Street and we're not looking to stop that thoroughfare at all.
“This project will be about a transformation of Grey Street to allow our community to interact with the street better, encourage a shift in transportation away from cars and change our perceptions of how we use our streets.
“Working with the Journeys team at council has been really progressive.
“They were open and receptive to our concept around the Grey Street area being perfect for Streets For People and gave us free rein to put together a robust strategy and proposal to present to Waka Kotahi.
“I think one of the biggest takeaways is that we were able to work collaboratively towards a common goal, which is perhaps a new concept and way of doing things for the council.”
Council community lifelines director David Wilson says it has been wonderful to support the community groups to make their ideas happen.
“This is the first of its kind for the council and we want to do more.”
Waka Kotahi urban mobility manager Kathryn King says she is excited Gisborne District Council is on board.
“Streets for People enables councils to partner with their communities more easily to create more welcoming spaces for people quickly.
“It's becoming clear that our communities across Aotearoa New Zealand want safer and healthier streets that cater for everyone.
“Streets for People is a step in the right direction to help achieve that.”
