CONNECTIVITY

This one is mostly for information rather than a choice. Stage 2 of the plan reworks how people reach the waterfront, and the pieces fit together: reshaping the carparks is what makes room for the path in several places, so they happen at the same time.

Car parking

More spaces overall

Removing the old Four Seasons building at 250 Haven Road frees its site for a new carpark. That work is already approved and is happening separately.

The carparks along the waterfront are then reshaped and extended – new surfaces, planting through them, and clearer, safer aisles and entry points. Together that work adds about 44 to 51 spaces. New areas would drain to raingardens rather than straight to the sea.

Servicing stays as it is at the rear of Guytons and the Styx Building, with a better pedestrian priority crossing where the path meets it.

Bringing the buildings back into use, offices in particular, will also add demand for parking.

Buses

New stops and shelters

Better places to wait – shelters at the stops on the seaside of SH6 and benches on the landside – closer to where people actually want to get off.

Crossing the highway

Improved crossings

A new pedestrian refuge north of the Nelson Yacht Club reconnects the path to the footpath opposite. Cycle lanes on both sides of the highway stay. Some roadside parks shift for a relocated bus stop.

The vehicle crossing between the Anchor Building and Custom House would close – NZTA has raised safety concerns about it.

Most of the highway is NZTA's, not the Council's, so changes there need their agreement.

Concept image of reshaped waterfront parking with trees and planting
Reshaped waterfront parking with new planting. Draft Masterplan, Irving Smith Architects. Concept picture, not a final design.

Reshaping and extending the carparks along the waterfront, and forming a new one at the Custom House end, together add about 44 to 51 spaces. If Custom House were also removed, its site could make about 18 more on top of that. Those 18 only happen if you choose removal at Question 8.

Between the Boat Shed and the Boat House

Elected members have asked us to look at the parking along this stretch. It is not planned for the early stages of the Masterplan, and nothing specific is proposed – but the area has been identified as worth a closer look for parking, accessibility, safety and how it feels to use.

A first, rough estimate puts the work at $2.0m to $2.5m, including a new walkway. That figure is based on a generic scenario. No site investigation, engineering assessment or design has been done, so it could move a long way in either direction.

Would you like us to investigate the options for more parking in this section?

We want your guidance

Does this approach to getting here – parking, buses and crossings – work for how you use the waterfront? And should we investigate more parking between the Boat Shed and the Boat House?

Concept image of the boardwalk and structures along the water's edge at sunset
The boardwalk and water-edge structures as they could be. Draft Masterplan, Irving Smith Architects. Concept picture, not a final design.