07 August 2019
Hi [Lianne D., Andrew T., Deon S., Anne G., Jimmy C., Mike D., Raf M., Glenn L., David E., Aaron K., Pauline C., Vicki B., Tim S., James G., Sara T., Yani J., & Phil C.]
After attending the Social, Community Development and Housing Committee on Wednesday 31 July 2019, I understand the Council will be discussing the Community Facilities Network Plan, before the final plan is accepted by Council.
As this plan is not going out for public consultation, below is my feedback after reading the plan (https://christchurch.infocouncil.biz/Open/2019/07/SOC_20190731_AGN_3438_AT.PDF)
1. Plan Feedback
– Page 33, “5.4 City-wide there are currently no significant major geographic gaps in the network when we consider all current providers.”
The plan includes “Church Owned & Religious Facilities”, so there are gaps in the network for those in our communities who do not feel comfortable attending an activity at these facilities due to their own beliefs.
Some “Community Trusts” are outreach opportunities for a church, and can alienate those in our communities who feel ‘judged’, from attending their activities/community centres.
– Page 34, “5.14 Occupancy rates across the Council managed facilities average between 36% and 38% with a customer satisfaction currently of 76%.”
Why is the Council funding other community groups/trust/centres through the Community Boards, when the Council managed facilities occupancy is low?
Why don’t the Community Boards focus on increasing occupancy rates in the Council managed facilities first, before considering funding other non Council facilities?
When we are questioning why the Council needs to own facilities, why do community groups/trusts need to own facilities? Why aren’t they using the existing facilities in the community by sharing resources?
– Page 34, “5.16 Community operation leads to greater diversity of use and activation. Community groups/trusts can offer a greater quantity and range of use with many in the Christchurch area already doing this well.”
“Community groups/trusts can”, yes this ‘can’ happen. But also what ‘can’ happen, is that these groups/trusts become closed/cliques, that are not welcoming and inclusive to all the residents in our communities.
I support non partisan civic facilities (CCC Libraries/Citizen Hubs) for this reason, as they are welcoming and inclusive to all the residents in our communities, and operated by Council staff who are accountable to the Council/Community Boards.
The Learning Spaces at our CCC Libraries could be better utilized by our communities through resident initiated groups, civic engagement meetings, civic education classes, community groups/trusts/association meetings etc.
– Page 44, “The spaces are more than the actual buildings, creating connections within the space/s and to the areas and amenities surrounding them.
In the new community spaces people come together for a common reason/cause, creating a sense of community through social engagement, having a sense of ownership, and shared experiences.”
– Page 45, “No provider is particularly strong in providing for drop-ins, bumping and social services – Council Libraries are strongest in this area.”
– Page 46, “4a. Focusing investment in small number of community hubs (existing and new) of significant size co-located with other Council facilities such as libraries.”
– Page 47, Table 1. Asset Data on Christchurch City Council and Community Facilities
This table is incorrect. ‘Papanui’ is listed under ‘Hornby Halswell Riccarton’. The ‘Papanui Innes’ heading should have ‘Papanui’ and ‘Innes’ as separate line items.
– Page 48, “Worldwide trends tell us Community Facilities will be focal points in the community and will become known as neighbourhood and communal gathering places of flexible spaces that allow people to work/play/be/meet together in groups or work/play/be alone but connected to others outside of their homes.”
– Page 56, “Councils Role: Direct Provider, Manager Administrator and Operator of the Facility (Potential for service contracts with Library, Community Organisations).”
This is the Council role I would like to see at 10 Shirley Road. I do not think this centre should be managed/operated by a community group/trust or association. The Learning Spaces should be inclusive and available for all residents/community groups/trusts/associations to use.
– Page 57, “Facility Location Significance: Some facilities are better suited to be hub locations based on their centrality within a neighbourhood/rural community, geographical location, accessibility and proximity to other hub or key locations such as libraries, social and community outdoor spaces, cafes, economic and
commercial centres including malls and or proximity to aligned activity, school/education, church, sport and play related.”
– Page 57, “Ward and Neighbourhood Significance: At the network level where there are potential hub facilities, the approach is to support their development as Council owned and operated sites.
Hub facilities are where there is co-location and clustering of services: library; service centre; community activity; recreation and sport; civic activity; culture; meeting and public assembly; education and arts activity.”
– Pages 64-69 Community Facilities by Ward. There are facilities missing from this data/network plan, so the number of facilities per Ward is not accurate.
– The plan counts the number of facilities, but doesn’t show the capacity of each facility/number of people able to attend each facility? One small centre doesn’t cater for the same amount of people as another larger centre.
– Where in the plan is the information about the users of these community centre/facilities? Who is the target audience for these facilities? Who are we providing these facilities/activities for?
Most of these community centre/facilities are open limited hours and mainly used by people who are at home during the day: eg. stay at home parents, retirees, unemployed, people working from home, people with mental health/disability issues.
– How can the Council/Community Boards make informed decisions on investing in new facilities and funding existing facilities if they don’t understand who in the community is using them/or not using them and why?
– Why doesn’t each Community Board have on their CCC website page an online community directory/facilities/activities available, if we want residents to engage and utilize the existing Council facilities to strengthen our communities?
– CCC Community Board engagement staff and CCC Libraries/Service Centre staff have a wealth of information about each community and local knowledge that our communities could make better use of.
2. 10 Shirley Road
– Page 35, “6.1 A feeling that there has been a degree of inequity across the board areas in terms of investment in repairs and new builds since 2011.”
This is an issue in our community. ‘Stakeholders’ have been consulted, but they have a different opinion to the residents. From my perspective, the Shirley Community Centre hasn’t been rebuilt due to some ‘stakeholders’ influencing the decision, due to fear of funding cuts.
Residents are continuing to vote with their feet every time they go to Shirley Library, just look at the numbers. The staff do a great job with a small space, imagine what they could do with dedicated learning spaces in a new library at 10 Shirley Road.
– Page 36, “7.4 Shirley Community Centre 10 Shirley Road –Emerging information points to the retention of the site at 10 Shirley Road as community space (land banking).
Continue to use the site as an open air community hub or a “longer term gap filler approach” funding has been secured for a pump track and landscaping, with the potential for other outdoor activity features over time.
As the site is recommended to be retained there is always to opportunity to re look at the development of a facility with a community partner into the future.
Other providers have developed facilities in the area and Council has supported the development of a facility in the near-by Macfarlane Park and is currently developing a facility in St Albans.”
Thanks to Council staff I was able to talk to Peter Burley as part of his research for the Community Facilities Network Plan. At our meeting in February, I did not agree with his opinion (as stated above), which is why after our meeting I created the attached .pdf and emailed it to him.
I have also attached my.pdf for the Draft Annual Plan that shows how my idea for 10 Shirley Road aligns with the different CCC Plans, Strategies & Policies documents “that help us to plan and shape the future of our city.”
We don’t need Shirley Park, we need Shirley Centre. Turning 10 Shirley Road into a park does not address the social issues in our community. We already have more than enough green spaces in our communities. Another park is not the answer.
– We seem to have lost focus that well-being is more than access to a park. The Health Iceberg suggests: What we focus on: physical health (diet & exercise). What we ignore: occupational health, social health, mental health, environmental health, spiritual health, emotional health.
– “Christchurch already has far more park land, sport fields and playgrounds (local parks) per person than the national median and more than other major metropolitan cities in NZ.” (https://engage.regeneratechristchurch.nz/30274/documents/64943/download, Page 36)
The gaps in our communities are not related to physical health opportunities. The gaps that the Council (in partnership with Ministry’s) can help with are: occupational health, social health, mental health, emotional health, and environmental health.
– Why don’t we use the CCC Libraries/Citizen Hubs facilities to work together with different Ministry’s/NGOs/community workers, as an outreach to provide education and connect those in the community with the right resources at the right time?
“The Government has promised to set up a new universal frontline mental health service, expected to help 325,000 people with mild to moderate mental health needs by 2024…it recognised the need “to train more qualified mental health workers and build new facilities”.
(https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/budget/113093191/budget-2019-mental-health-and-child-poverty-focus-in-first-wellbeing-budget)
– Last year I visited most of the libraries in Christchurch to gain a better understanding on how they were designed, what worked/didn’t work etc. I quickly realised that the people within each local library, represented the health/wealth of each community.
Most of the learning spaces were under utilised, and I wondered why they weren’t being used as education/outreach opportunities into the community (introduction to service, seminars, drop in session etc.) by the Ministry’s/NGOs/community workers in a neutral space?
– “The public library is the one place, potentially the only civic place, where people are welcome to come no matter their background, their politics, their beliefs. People who are disenfranchised, have mobility issues, are socially isolated, the very old and the very young, it can be the only comfortable place to be – and their ideas are welcome.”
“We are becoming a bastion of wellbeing and welcome for people,” says Kat Cuttriss, Hutt City Libraries manager and chair of Public Libraries of New Zealand. (https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/113926856/how-new-zealand-libraries-are-adapting-to-the-21st-century)
– Projects Removed from Programme: Shirley Community Centre, Papanui-Innes Community Board, Finance and Performance Committee, 4th July 2019
“The capital budget for this project was removed from the 2018-2028 Long Term Plan. In March 2019 the Riverside Community Network received the feasibility study and business case for a combined community hub for the Burwood, Avondale and Dallington area which they had commissioned.
This will be considered as part of the delivery of the Community Facilities Network Plan project.” (https://christchurch.infocouncil.biz/Open/2019/07/FPCO_20190704_AGN_3476_AT.PDF)
Has the rebuild of the Shirley Community Centre been ‘sacrificed’ for the new ‘Riverside Community Network’ centre? How is that strengthening communities, when adjacent communities feel like they are being pitted against each other for funding? (https://www.10shirleyroad.org.nz/community-needs-community-centres/)
– Inequalities: Pre-Election Report Booklet (https://ccc.govt.nz/assets/Documents/The-Council/How-the-Council-works/2019-Elections/Pre-Election-Report-Booklet-WEB-FINAL-002-Optimized.pdf)
“Inequalities undermine social cohesion and have been shown to have negative consequences, including for life expectancy and health, educational performance and employment, crime and our social fabric, and cultural and civic participation. Inequality also significantly inhibits economic growth.”
“The Local Government (Community Well-being) Amendment Act 2019 restored the purpose of local government, “to promote the social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being of communities in the present and for the future.” This obligates the Council to consider the social and economic wellbeing of all communities in the city.”
“Community organisations are in a great position to identify the needs of their communities, and to respond quickly to social and economic changes at the local level. They are also often in a position to be able to reach those groups who are ‘hard to reach’ and address social exclusion.”
After living in Shirley for 8 years, and now in Richmond for 3 years, my experience with community organisations/groups/centres has been varied. I have found them hard to find with no community directory, targeted at certain groups with set specific activities, and open limited hours.
My idea for 10 Shirley Road is to build a new centre for the future, by creating adaptable learning spaces for community groups/organisations to share the resources and become more visible/open/available to those people in the community needing their help and support. They need to be operating from where people already are in our communities: our libraries.
3. Mapping Tool/Online Booking System
– I agree with the Boards suggestion that the facilities data needs to be incorporated online through the CCC website, similar to this page: https://www.ccc.govt.nz/rec-and-sport/sports-grounds/winter-sports-field-map.
With layers for each type of facility/ownership the Council/Community Boards would be visually able to see at a glance where the gaps are in the network plan, and be better informed to make decisions in the future regarding these facilities.
– For community purposes, as a directory/location map/inform community of facilities, the facilities data needs to be incorporated online through the CCC website, with a Community Facilites page here: https://www.ccc.govt.nz/rec-and-sport
With layers for each type of facility/operated by/capacity/activities, the Community groups would be visually able to see at a glance where the duplicates/gaps are in the network plan, and residents would have an online directory for activities/contact details.
– For planning purposes, the facilities data needs to be incorporated online through the CCC website on the District Plan online tool, under “Zones and Designations”, https://districtplan.ccc.govt.nz/PropertySearch/PropertySearchContainer.html
– Page 36, 6.1 “Boards liked the mapping tool; there were suggestions that the tool could be morphed into an interactive on-line map identifying the location, function, availability and booking procedure for each facility.”
I agree this information needs to be online and available for all, accessible for those with disabilities and translatable for those in our communities for whom English is a second language, if we are to become an inclusive accessible city.
– Online Booking System that anyone can use to book a facility for a meeting/program/activity/event, and integrated with Facebook Events, so it is easier to engage with more people in the community.
4. Shirley Community
– “An east Christchurch suburb overlooked since the earthquakes is close to breaking point, community leaders say. (https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/103484014/christchurch-suburb-overlooked-since-the-earthquakes-community-leaders-say)
Papanui-Innes Community Board chairwoman Ali Jones told a council submissions hearing on Monday Shirley was in dire need of new community facilities, but had been largely left out of the Christchurch City Council’s draft 10-year budget.
“Our ward has been forgotten in many ways, particularly the Shirley area – an area that is in the east but not in the east we hear so much about.” “The community is close to breaking point. They need a place to meet, to gather, to mend.” 30th April 2018
– In November 2018, the Shirley Village Project conducted a “My Hopes for Shirley” survey, asking residents ‘To make Shirley a better place, it needs…’
“Facilities and places to gather”, 2nd highest result, the current community centres are not fulfilling the needs of the people in this community, they need more opportunities for learning and connecting with others.
5. Papanui-Innes Community Board Plan 2017-2019
“Strong Communities | Board Priorities: (for the next two years) Develop a ten year plan for the area at 10 Shirley Road for community use. The plan will be considered in the Long Term Plan. The rebuild of a community centre on the land at 10 Shirley Road is designed and commenced.
Strong Communities | We will measure our success by: Development of a ten year plan for the area at 10 Shirley Road and consideration in the Long Term Plan. This may include, among other items, a children’s playground, community gardens and a community centre.
A community board community working party commencing to work with technical staff to design and begin the rebuild of a community facility at 10 Shirley Road.
Prosperous economy | Board Priorities: (for the next two years) Successful rebuild of the 10 Shirley Road.
Prosperous economy | We will measure our success by: Commencement of the rebuild of the 10 Shirley Road Community Centre.” (https://www.ccc.govt.nz/assets/Documents/The-Council/Community-Boards/Plans/Papanui-Innes-Community-Board-Plan.pdf)
For the last two years I have been unable to work, as I developed chronic pain in my ribs from prolonged coughing. I was referred me to the Burwood Hospital Pain Management Clinic in September 2017, and I was on their waiting list til July 2018.
Due to my physical limitations, I’ve spent the last year reading/researching. I know this has improved my well-being, which is why I’m so passionate about ‘The Library as a Third Place’ and the link between creativity and our identity, well-being and learning.
We have many in our communities who don’t have a ‘second place (work)’: stay at home parents, retirees, unemployed, people working from home etc. Some due to their circumstances don’t feel like they have a safe and relaxing ‘first place (home)’.
This is why it is so important that our ‘third places (social)’ are welcoming and inclusive for everyone in our communities.
If you have any questions/comments please contact me.
Thanks,
Joanna Gould