Suburban Centres Master Plans : Christchurch City Council

Following consultation with the Community Boards, the Council approved the Suburban Centres Programme in June 2011. It provides coordinated planning and assistance to help with the rebuild and recovery in the most affected centres.

Process

Master planning can be a time-consuming process and may only be suitable for some centres, depending on their size, catchment, layout and particular opportunities that may exist to improve a centre’s function or performance.

The master plan development process involves collaboration between the Council, Community Board and local stakeholders, including land owners, business operators, community groups (such as social and environmental groups), local residents, central and regional government agencies and Iwi.

Master plans are developed within a framework of five themes via an ‘Inquiry by Design’ approach to ensure a comprehensive and integrated view of the centre’s potential, as expressed by the resulting vision, goals and actions for the centre.

Implementation

Each master plan contains an implementation plan setting out the expected leaders of, and timeframes for, each action. While the Council leads some actions, others are led by private landowners and community groups.

Implementation on all master plan actions is reported to the Council biannually.

Master plans often guide other Council advice and decision-making, with respect to strategic land acquisition and the provision of grant funding, for example.