Resources to inspire and help you plan to shape your place.

General

How-to guides

  • Summer with your neighbours: Information to help your plan an event with your neighbours, such as a street party or potluck meal.
  • Running a street party: Information to help organise a neighbourhood street party.
  • Edible Christchurch: Contains information about how community gardens, edible parks or school gardens can be established, cared for and enjoyed by the community.
  • How to create a mural in a public place(external link): This toolkit prepared by the Auckland Council provides a practical guide to creating a mural in a public place.
  • Adopt a Street: This programme offers free training and supplies to those looking to address graffiti in their neighbourhood. For more information visit the Council’s Graffiti Programme page or come along to a volunteer training session at 180 Smith Street on the first Thursday of each month between 12:30pm and 1:30pm.

Resources for businesses

  • Commercial centre factsheets: These provide a snapshot of Christchurch (including Banks Peninsula’s) larger commercial centres’ current state, relevant issues and longer term trends in respect to transport and access, physical amenity and economic and social wellbeing. 
  • Suburban master plans: If your commercial centre is in one of the nine suburban centre master plans (Lyttelton, Sydenham, Linwood Village, Selwyn Street Shops, Edgeware Village, Sumner Village Centre, Ferry Road, Main Road and New Brighton Centre), check what the local community has envisaged for it or contact urbanregeneration@ccc.govt.nz
  • Business planning: The business.govt.nz(external link) website provides advice on how to write a business plan and a free, customisable template.
  • Creative hoardings on temporary health and safety fences around construction sites helps reduce their visual impact while construction is occurring.
  • Neighbourly(external link): An online way to connect and interact with your neighbours, share important local information and foster better, safer communities.

Local success stories and lessons learned

  • Heathcote: The Upside(external link): Community Creativity, Innovation and Initiative in Response to the Christchurch Earthquakes, edited by Snooze Harris, Freerange Press, 2016. Available at Christchurch City Libraries.
  • Exploring our town(external link): Insights and lessons learnt from creative place-making projects in the United States of America.