Gisborne’s street protesters celebrated a win last Wednesday after the Gisborne District Council voted to reverse controversial changes to the inner-city Grey Street.
The changes, carried out as part of Waka Kotahi’s “Streets for People” project, included an altered intersection, cycle lanes, pedestrian crossings, speed humps, concrete planter boxes and bespoke street art. Some of these have already been removed after an initial assessment over a year ago. However, locals have continued to be annoyed by the impediments to normal street use and outraged by the nearly one million dollars spent on the unneeded works.
Protests began in July 2024 and have continued nearly every Wednesday, with a doughty band of about 10 sign-holders continuing to receive a barrage of toots and supportive comments. A survey found that 89 per cent of respondents did not consider the project to be a success. At least one business has had to move to a different premises because its customers could no longer find parking spaces and the bakery on the street is having to have the flour delivered at two o’clock in the morning as the truck cannot get in during the day.
Users of the street have expressed a range of emotions: over everything from the dangers of slowing down emergency vehicles on a major city route, to the peculiar orange and blue tarseal decorations, which offer no tangible clue as to the intended use of the spaces they cover. Perhaps most disturbing of all has been the hopscotch game painted in the middle of a car parking area.
According to the Tairawhiti Adventure Trust, which has worked on the project together with the council, the idea was to ‘calm’ the traffic and make the area safer in the vicinity of the skateboard park and bike track. While a review found that there had been some success with this, the majority of locals consider the new layout to be more dangerous and will doubtless be pleased to see the last of the obstructions lining the street.
Ratepayers will still have to shoulder the cost of tens of thousands of dollars to restore the street, with taxpayers ultimately picking up the rest of the bill.
Attendees of the council’s meeting last week said the atmosphere was positive and councillors cordially agreed to remove most of the changes, as well as obtaining advice about what to retain and listening to the community.
According to the Gisborne Herald, the council’s chief executive mused that “another option to slow traffic could be to reduce the speed limit”.
After spending a million dollars, they finally think of that.
