Submissions to DCC

Hi everyone

Here's TV473's Initiating Committee/Food and Garden Working Group submission DRAFT below - will change a bit no doubt as its a bit rough! If you want a formatted version pls email me. Transport Working group is working on their own submission at this stage - to come!

Be great if you can support our key request to the council for assistance with fruit and nut tree plantings. Thanks! You could just put in the following:

(Your name) support the Recommendations and Actions for Community Fruit and Nut Tree Planting submitted by Transition Valley 473 (Recommendation 2.2, Transition Valley 473 Food and Garden Working Group Submission)

That would be awesome thanks!

Transition Valley 473:
Food and Garden Working Group

12 April 2011

The Chief Executive
Dunedin City Council
PO Box 5045
Dunedin

Submission on the Dunedin City Council 2011/2012 Draft Annual Plan

Submitters’ Names:
Address:
Phone (day):
Phone (evening):
Email:

We, Transition Valley 473: Food and Garden Working Group, wish to speak to our submission.
1 Introduction

Thank you for this opportunity to submit to the Dunedin City Council 2011/2012 Draft Annual Plan.

We are a group of residents from North East Valley and its surrounding suburbs in Dunedin. Our aim is to help this community on its transition journey - coping with the climate, energy and economic changes that are coming. Our objectives are to provide information about these issues, to work cooperatively with community groups and council, to foster practical skill sharing in the community, and to instigate and support relevant community projects. We are open to all residents in the area as well as supporters from other areas. Since forming in late 2008, we have had a well attended public meeting on these issues, held suburb based educational DVD nights and a number of practical grassroots community activities e.g vegetable garden tours, assisted with bulk insulation rollout, bike maintenance workshops, and the planting of fruit and nut trees. The TV473 group comprises an Initating Group as well as Working Groups. This submission is from the Initiating Group and the Food and Garden Working Group.
We request that the Dunedin City Council prioritise action around climate change and peak oil, and make Dunedin a more resilient place in terms of transport, energy, food production and local community knowledge. We also support the key points of a number of specific recommendations that are outlined in submissions from other groups. These are noted in the relevant sections.

The Council Outcomes that this submission relates to includes Accessible City, Supportive Community and Active City, with the main focus being on Safe and Healthy People and Sustainable City and Environment.

2 Specific Recommendations

2.1 Prioritise Action on Climate Change, Peak Oil and Resilience

We applaud the Dunedin City Council for the work they have done to date to seek to understand the impacts climate change and peak oil on Dunedin. We ask that the Council make action on peak oil and climate change an absolute priority. We believe that both issues need to be tackled in tandem. Strengthening the resilience of the city to deal with these challenges should be a priority. Resilience refers to the ability of a system to continue to function when it is impacted. The strengthening of small, local, independent and diverse systems are ways to increase resilience. We believe this is especially important in the area of food production for the city.

Actions: We request that the Council:
1. Develop a strategy for jointly addressing climate change and peak oil as they affect Dunedin
2. Develop a strategy to increase the city’s resilience through relocalisation of food production where practical
3. Develop these strategies within two years.

2.2 Community Fruit and Nut Tree Planting

Community resilience in terms of food production is vital for Dunedin given the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change. Our primary focus at the moment is to plant 1000 fruit and nut trees in the area, to be used and cared for by the community. Through the Community Orchard: 1000 Fruit and Nut Tree Project, we have planted 35 trees and 4 berry bushes on DCC owned land in the area. Where possible we have sourced heritage trees suited to the region, as these will grow best and can be cared for using organic methods that are safer for people and the natural environment. We have also held several community workshops on tree planting with some on tree pruning planned during the winter months. This work to date has been carried out with funding from HEHA, and involved community consultation and engagement. We thank Dunedin City Council staff for their assistance in helping us assess the suitability of sites and providing those sites.
We understand that the Dunedin City Council hold a yearly budget for tree planting within the city, as well as a budget for caring for those trees (pruning, mulching etc). To date, we believe that our group has assisted the Council in their tree planting (both in terms of buying trees and ongoing care). However, funding from HEHA will not continue after June 2011 so it will be more difficult for us to raise the necessary funds to purchase trees. We would like the Council to pay for our heritage fruit and nut trees out of their existing budget for trees, and also for the Council to plant fruit and nut trees for community use on Council land. We believe this will be a win-win situation for both as our communities will provide some of the ongoing care for the trees (planting, pruning, mulching and interplanting).

Actions: We request that the Council:
1. Increase the number of fruit and nut trees planted on Council land, instead of planting ornamental trees at some sites
2. Provide heritage fruit and nut trees free of charge to TV473 and other community groups who are already, or wishing to be involved with planting and caring for those trees. Support these groups to identify suitable sites and work in a co-ordinated way to ensure any other plantings do not adversely affect the fruit and nut tree plantings.
3. Plant heritage fruit and nut trees at the Botanic gardens.

2.3 Promote and Support Low-Carbon Transport Options

Addressing the challenges of Climate Change and Peak Oil together require that we seek to strengthen alternative lower carbon forms of transport such as cycling, walking and public transport, and increase the overall accessibility of the city to non-private vehicle users through the creation of more connecting foot and cycle paths between communities.

The Transition Valley 473: Transport Group is putting in their own submission. We support all of their key points - in particular their wish to reduce the speed limit along North Road and preferably within the central city limits to 30km/hour.

Actions: We request the Council
1. Reduce the speed limit from 50km to 30km/hour along North Road and consider reducing the limit within the whole central city that is currently designated 50km. For more details see submission by TV473 Transport Working Group: Section 2.1
2. Prioritise establishing and linking up bicycle routes to make it safer for people to cycle, for example from North Road, through the campus, and also linking up with the bicycle route around West Harbour and Portsmouth Drive. We also support funding for the Port Chalmers to Boat Harbour cycleway and the Caversham to Wingatui cycleway via rail tunnels.
3. Footpaths linking communities: We ask the Council expand their provision of footpaths within communities so that people can travel more easily by foot. For example, Top of Arnold St to Evans St, Top of Watts Rd to Campbell Rd.

2.4 Improve Energy Efficiency in Households

Across the country, electricity consumption is increasing at a rate of approximate 2% per year. At current rates we will need to double our generation capacity within 35 years. The country’s reliance on dirty, fossil-fuel coal-fire powered generation is increasing. According to the Heep study, Dunedin households use more electricity than most of the rest of the country, primarily due to our cold climate and poorly insulated housing stock. Initiatives that can reduce electricity demands on households in ways that mitigate the effects of climate change are to be welcomed both for householders pockets and for the wider environment.

We applaud the Council for their support of cheap insulation installation through the Healthy Homes Grant and encourage them to expand this scheme as well as seek and support other schemes.

We also applaud the Council for waiving consent costs for Solar Hot water installations. We encourage them to consider subsidies in solar hot water purchases. In particular we would like see a scheme similar to the Solar Saver Scheme that is offered in Nelson (for more detail please refer to the submission put in by the Blueskin Resilient Communities Trust, Section 2.3)
As outlined in the BRCT submission, we ask the Council to investigate providing a solar hot water scheme similar to the Nelson Solar Saver model. This model uses Council bulk purchasing power and high volume loan interest terms to offer affordable solar hot water systems to householders. These are paid off through their rates bill over a ten year period. We understand that the solar hot water system would stay with the property if it is sold. Photovoltaic cells, insulation retrofits and rainwater tanks could also be purchased by households using a similar model to the proposed Solar Saver Scheme

Actions: We request the council
1. Continue in their support of energy efficiency initiatives for households by continuing to waive consent fees on solar hot water installations, providing the Healthy Homes Grant on insulation.
2. Investigate, and if feasible, offer a scheme similar to the Solar Saver Scheme in Nelson.
3. Investigate, and if feasible, offer further highly subsidised insulation retrofits such as a reduced or zero interest loan scheme.

We thank you for your attention to this submission

Yours sincerely,

Submitters

No longer attached is our draft submission. See below dated 11 april. Please feel free to comment, either through this forum or directly to peterd0n@clear.net.nz (copy and paste)and FEEL FREE TO PUT IN YOUR OWN SUBMISSION TO THE DRAFT ANNUAL PLAN USING SOME OR ALL OF THIS MATERIAL BU 5 PM ON TUESDAY 12 APRIL.

Dear Spokers and Friends,

Dunedin City Council is asking for submissions on their Draft Annual Plan 2011/12. The Council needs to hear from you in order to act. The more submissions they receive on an issue (no matter how brief), the more weight they will give to it. So it’s time to speak up in favour of improving our city for cycling!

Making a submission may sound daunting if you have never done it before, but it can be as quick and simple as filling out the Council’s online form and clicking “Submit.” You don’t have to appear before the Council and speak, although you can ask to do so if you wish.Please also share these suggestions with your friends and colleagues who say, “I’d like to cycle more often, but . . .”

The key ideas from Spokes are included below: use any or all of this text as you see fit, replacing “Spokes” with “I.” Of course, you should also include any suggestions of your own about improving cycling conditions around your workplace, school, or neighbourhood in the coming year.

More cycleways. The annual plan sets a target of adding only 2 km to the length of existing city cycle lanes for 2011/12. At a time when fuel prices are at record levels and many residents are seeking alternatives to travelling by private car, this extremely limited objective is disappointing. Spokes would like to see plans for local cycleways expedited and expanded, in particular the Harbour cycleway (on both sides of the Harbour and around the stadium) and the proposed Caversham Tunnel route.

Spokes is pleased to see that the Council has allocated money for investigating the feasibility of the tunnel route in 2011/12. We strongly urge the council to also allocate funds for initial development of the tunnel route in this year’s plan rather than wait another year before making funds available. When completed, such routes will enable a larger number of residents to travel safely and enjoyably by bicycle.[For more on the tunnel project, see the proposed submission on the Caversham-Kaikorai Valley and Chain Hill tunnels at www.cavershamtunnel.org.nz/ap-submission-2011/]

Better cycleways. Although on-road cycle lanes have recently been added to a number of streets in Dunedin, their implementation is inadequate for heavily travelled roads. Many residents (even very experienced cyclists) are reluctant to use the cycle lanes on SH1, for example, as they are too narrow to offer protection from large, heavy vehicles on one side and the opening doors of parked cars on the other. Spokes urges the Council to ensure that all such lanes conform to the NZTA minimum width of 1.5 meters, to construct wider lanes whenever feasible, to use more visible marking of lanes, and to explore alternatives for future projects, such as cycleways that are physically separated from footpaths, parked cars, and roadways.

More cycle parking. Spokes and Council staff have had productive discussions about the design and placement of additional cycle parking throughout the city. We look forward to seeing these plans implemented and urge that the 2011/12 city development budget include funds to continue these improvements.

Complete Streets. Spokes encourages the Council to adopt a Complete Streets policy, in which the needs of all road users (including walkers, cyclists, and wheelchair users as well as motorized traffic) are taken into account at all stages of transportation planning, and to apply these guidelines to the redevelopment of urban areas as well as to new development.

Sustainable transport. Spokes recommends stronger recognition of the importance of active transportation in city development, as it is essential to the Council’s plans for a sustainable city.

John Wilson Ocean Drive. Spokes opposes the reopening of John Wilson Ocean Drive to vehicle use. In its current state, the drive offers a unique opportunity for residents (especially families with children and those with limited mobility) to enjoy a paved ocean promenade free from the noise, hazards, and pollution of motor vehicles. The current position of the bollards, which leaves most of the road accessible to cars, also offers ample opportunities for parking on the drive for those want to remain in their cars. If, however, the Council goes ahead with Option 3, motor vehicle access and parking must be designed to avoid disadvantage and danger to other users of the drive. Spokes urges consultation with active transportation groups on this issue.

Jetty Street overbridge. Spokes supports the widening of the footpath on the overbridge: the approaches and crossing are currently dangerous and unpleasant without a motor vehicle. We strongly recommend, however, that the project take into account the safety of cyclists as well as pedestrians.

You can submit your submission online at www.dunedin.govt.nz/your-council/draft-annual-plan/draft-annual-plan-201... have a look at the Draft Annual Plan 2011/12 at www.dunedin.govt.nz/your-council/draft-annual-plan/draft-annual-plan-doc... and, you can see the proposed submission on the Caversham-Kaikorai Valley and Chain Hill tunnels at www.cavershamtunnel.org.nz/ap-submission-2011/

Submission: Re-establish the old Caversham - Kaikorai Valley rail tunnel and Chain Hills tunnel as a walking and cycling track

I would like to request that the disused rail tunnels running from Caversham to Kaikorai Valley, and connecting through to the old Chain Hills tunnel be re-established as a walking and cycle track, providing both an interesting Dunedin Heritage walk as well as a safer and easier cycleway in and out of Dunedin for the southern end of the city, with Transport funding allocated over the next 2 years for issue mitigation and track development.

This creates a route between the two tunnels, providing a commuting, recreational cycling, and tourist trail between Dunedin and Mosgiel. This is also the original section of the Otago Central Rail Trail and would become the start/end point for OCRT riders.

This submission fits neatly within the DCC Draft Transportation Strategy for both cycling and walking. As a commuting option it eliminates the Lookout Point and Saddle Hill height barriers; enables the cyclists to be able to move away from major traffic flows; provides an instant, local, accessible tourist attraction of Dunedin's heritage; and follows the general increase of awareness and participation in outdoor activities and the "green economy". This is not only a part of Dunedin's history that needs to be preserved and used, but an incredible resource that should be utilised to the full for recreation as well as commuting

Thank you.

(See also http://www.cavershamtunnel.org.nz/ap-submission-2011/)

People who park in town will be aware that the pay and display meters dispense plastic parking tickets. What a convinient thing to have parking tickets that don't go soggy in the rain!

But there is a problem with these tickets. They don't break down and aren't recycled, so the thousands of these that are produced each day are a long-lasting waste problem. If they all ended up in the landfill then maybe it wouln't be so bad, but many of them find their way onto the road, and get washed down the drains and out to sea. From there they either wash up on beaches creating an ugly litter problem on our tourist-popular coastline, or end up contributing to the ocean plastic litter problem.

As you may be aware, plastic which ends up in the ocean breaks down only very slowly. These plastics contrbute to malnourishment of birds and fish who eat it mistaking it for food, they also absorb organic pollutants from seawater and cause hormone disruption to some marine life.

More than 50 tickets per month wash up on the beaches at Quarantine Island. Many more than that wash up on other beaches around Dunedin or stay in the ocean. It doesn't have to be this way! If we simply changed to paper tickets, then at least the tickets would break down faster in the environment and not be such an enduring litter problem.

So how much are we paying for this plastic trash? The replacement cost to maintain the pay and display machines is $300,000 this year! This cost is incurred each year, and it is expected to rise each to over $700,000 by 2019. If we are going to spend this much on parking meters, we might as well get ones that don't cause a litter problem and endanger our marine environment.

So please make a submission to the annual plan, and ask that the council phase out plastic parking tickets, and move to a system which reduces the litter problem and doesn't endanger marine life.

Changes to and suggestions on the proposed draft annual plan.

I am proposing that changes are made to the John Wilson Ocean Drive.
 Changes or decisions I would like the Council to make: 

1.    The permanent closure of the Road to motorised vehicles from the position of the bollards, to Lawyers Head.

2. The installation of traffic management infrastructure to slow traffic turning at the point at the bollards.

3. Provision of angle parking on the road up to the bollards..

4. The installation of additional rubbish bins and street furniture from the bollards to the heads.

This would give Dunedin its first and only wide safe scenic promenade suitable for a the general public and range of users who are not catered for anywhere else in Dunedin. It would be a valuable attraction and social and environmental asset. It would be at very minor cost, releasing scarce council funds for other works. It would remove the problems of managing vehicles for access, safety and rubbish..

I have talk about Peak Oil, Debt and transport issues, and include 10 recommendations to council, drawn mostly from material here.

Since I refuse to use Microsoft formats, I have uploaded 2 copies of the same thing, in open document format and as a pdf

Cheers,
Alex

Hi all

Here's our contribution. Thanks for all the work that made our work easier. Any comments welcome, and hope you can refer to us too - so will let you know by 1 pm tomorrow if anything does change

Nicky

The latest version of our submission follows:

12 April 2011

The Chief Executive
Dunedin City Council
PO Box 5045
Dunedin

Submission on the Dunedin City Council 2011/2012 Draft Annual Plan

Submitter’s Name: Transition Valley 473 Transport Group/Peter McDonald
Address: P O Box 8081, Gardens, Dunedin 9041
Phone (day): 473 1681 / 027 379 4388
Phone (evening): 473 1681
Email: peterd0n@clear.net.nz

Transition Valley 473 Transport Group wish to speak to our submission.
1 Introduction
Thank you for the opportunity to submit to the draft Annual Plan and to speak to my/our submission.

The catchment of Lindsay Creek, which runs through North East Valley forms a potential transition community. We have a nascent community formed around such facilities as the Gardens retail area, and Dunedin North Intermediate and other schools. We cover both urban and rural land, and our population includes families, retirees and school and tertiary students. Our population is 3000+ and our phone numbers (mostly) start with 473.

We're a group of residents from North East Valley, Opoho, Dalmore, Liberton, Pine Hill, Normanby and Mt Mera in North Dunedin. We've got together to help the Valley on our transition journey - coping with the climate, energy and economic changes that are coming. We welcome local residents to join us - turn up at an event and introduce yourself, or you can email us at transitionvalley@king.net.nz for more information.

The group currently consists of residents who want to get a Transition Town moving in Dunedin North. We welcome new members who are good at organising, or those interested in our Food & Garden, Transport and Energy working groups. In the spirit of the "traditional" 12 steps group though, we see our role as temporary, lasting only as long as needed until we have "sub groups" (focus area groups) in place.

Other Community sustaining initiatives running in the valley include Village Voice, the North East Valley Community Newsletter, published monthly by the North East Valley Community Programme, and the North East Valley Community Development Project, which involves local schools and businesses to improve the welfare of residents. The report from the Project is available for download and summaries of key points appeared in the April and May 2009 issues of Valley News.
Transition Valley 473 aims to bring together the community to plan out - and live - our energy descent.

The Council can assist us through planning and implementing initiatives in our area and elsewhere that help the people of Dunedin prepare for a more energy and resource-scarce future and supporting and facilitating local initiatives that make our community more resilient, cohesive and self- reliant.

The outcomes that this submission relates to includes Safe and Healthy People, Sustainable City and Environment, Supportive Community and Active City outcomes, however the main focus is on the Accessible City outcome.

Having just attended the launch of Dunedin’s first School Travel Plan in the Valley, we would also like to commend the Council for its involvement in and support for the School Travel Plan . We are confident that the recommendations of this submission are compatible with and will enhance the effects of the School Travel Plan for the Valley schools.

2 Recommendations

2.1 Urban Speed Limits

I would like to use this submission to draw attention to an aspect of our transport network that tends to be in the background, an assumed part of the transport environment that has persisted largely unchanged since ..., well at least since the demise of the functionally identical 30mph limit in 1976, that is the 50kmh urban speed limit.

That the next few decades are going to be marked by constraints on our profligate use of resources, physical and financial, is something that the Council has already recognised in some degree with its commissioning of two major reports on Dunedin’s vulnerability to peak oil and to climate change. Other submissions call for prioritising continued action to deal effectively with the effects of Climate Change and Peak Oil and basing all strategic decisions on the reality of these phenomena and we wholeheartedly support these submissions and Council efforts in this direction.

The current rapid rise in the price of petrol, while to some extent laid at the door of immediate unrest in oil-producing countries may not reverse itself as it has in the past. New Zealanders on limited budgets will cast a more critical gaze on travel both locally and further afield, while the cost of fuel will flow on to increase the cost of goods and services across the board. Rapidly increasing petrol prices mean that we need to review a lot of our assumptions about how a city works.

One idea, that could address a range of issues from safety across sustainability including Climate Change and Peak Oil and more resilient and active communities, is a reduction in the urban speed limit from 50kph. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that a reduction in specific locations would have significant positive local effects while influencing wider issues in a smaller but positive way.

The idea of a less than 50kmh urban speed limit is not without precedent in New Zealand. In 2005, TRAFINZ (Local Authority Traffic Institute of New Zealand) President Andy Foster, after the Institutes annual conference in Wellington, was reported as saying that the 50kmh urban speed limit is also “far too fast” in residential streets – and that the conference strongly supported plans to introduce blanket 40kmh speed limits in many urban and suburban streets around the country
[from http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0508/S00090/open-road-and-urban-speed-limits-should-be-lowered.htm].

Internationally there is considerable support for lower urban speed limits – along with some opposition/inertia – as an example, a fact sheet from The European Federation for Transport and Environment published in 2001 is appended.

Many of these issues have been recognised in the established 30km/h speed limit that has applied for several years in the main street of the Dunedin CBD. We believe that this approach would have value in other locations in Dunedin. In addition to the project proposed below, Roslyn Village and King Edward St between Hillside Road and MacAndrew Road, spring to mind

The following safety measures from the Draft Annual Plan might be positively affected by a general decrease in traffic speed brought about by a reduction in speed limits in specific areas.

• Percentage decrease in the number of injury crashes.
• Percentage decrease in the number of casualties resulting from accidents between pedestrians and vehicles
• Percentage decrease in the number of casualties resulting from accidents between cyclists and vehicles

As well the average severity of injuries resulting from all collisions would be reduced. There are reports suggesting that where there is significant interaction between pedestrians and motorists, a 30kph speed limit is appropriate (Archer et al, 2008).

Other benefits that might accrue from substantial use of lowered speed limits could include the following.
• Suburban streets with lower speed limits would become more attractive to non-motorised road users relative to arterial routes.
• Merging from side streets becomes easier.
• There would be a difficult to measure reduction in wear and tear on road materials with a resulting saving in maintenance costs once new maintenance regimes have been worked out.
• There would be lowered use of fossil fuel with benefits to motorists' pockets and levels of air pollution.
• There would be a reduction in vehicle noise.
.
As we are not, at this stage, advocating lower speed limits on arterial routes, the measure of "Average travel time by vehicle on five key urban routes at peak time (am)" should not be significantly affected. In any event, it is quite possible that a reduction in speed limits does not significantly increase travel times (Archer et al, 2008)

It is acknowledged that simply posting a speed limit does not guarantee that drivers will adhere to the new limit, nevertheless, in a limited locality with community support for the lower limit, the presence of a significant proportion of drivers using the new lower limit should constrain drivers who would otherwise go faster. In addition, we would hope that the Council would encourage and facilitate local community initiatives to develop areas along the lines of Hans Monderman's Shared Streets concept for urban streets. A current expression of these ideas can be found in the work of David Engwicht (Engwicht, 2011) based on the ideas of Hans Monderman (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Monderman).

In the Draft Annual Plan, the Council has a Transport Service Objective:

"To plan for and provide a safe, reliable, efficient, integrated, environmentally
acceptable and sustainable transport network for the movement of people
and goods throughout Dunedin"[DCC Draft Annual Plan 2011 - 2012: p34]

I/We believe that a willingness to consider lowering the general 50km/h speed limit in specific locations and indeed more generally within the urban area, would be entirely in accord with this objective.

Action 1: The Council should:

Explicity express in the Draft Annual Plan 2011-2012, a willingness to consider lowering the 50kmh speed limit in parts of the urban area of Dunedin as a positive response to safety and sustainability issues and local community concerns and wishes.

2.2 North East Valley: An example
The area of North East Valley is a particular concern of our group and myself and we ask the Council to provide through the Annual Plan, an opportunity to put a specific case for a speed limit reduction in North Road from the Gardens Intersection to the Norwood Street intersection at Normanby (and, if there is sufficient local interest, along Norwood St to the Bethune’s Gully Reserve Entrance).

North Road is currently designated a District Road which, according to the District Plan is a road which serves as a link of strategic district importance within or between districts. We believe that this is a remnant from the time when North Road formed part of the main access route to Dunedin from points North. We feel that North Road in its current role would be better designated as a Collector Road – in the class of roads which are locally preferred routes between or within
areas of population or activity.

Activities in North Road include 6 educational or childcare facilities, at least 5 churches, the Community Hospice, a major rest home in Ross Home, at least two significant reserves, businesses, numerous residences and at the lower end, a suburban shopping centre split into two halves by North Road with a single pedestrian crossing point at the Gardens Corner..

In recent times we are seeing more use of active transport including bicycles in North
Road and we would like to encourage this trend by making North Road more conducive to cycling, walking, shared use and in particular suitable for walking and biking to school.

It is our hope that North Road could become a Dunedin showcase for building a more accessible community and showing how to reverse the psychological retreat that has hallmarked our relationship with streets and roads for the past 50 years. This retreat solidifies the attitude that the only function of roads is for motor traffic to move from place to place and no other human activity has a place there. This retreat blinkers our view of different possibilities.

In addition we consider that the environment around the bottom of North Road including the shopping centre and the adjacent two schools could be greatly enhanced probably at relatively low cost by establishing a precinct from Glendinning Avenue to the Gardens Corner with a reduced speed limit (30kph) as the main feature.

Action 2: The Council should:

Alter the designation of North Road in North East Valley from the Gardens Corner to the Normanby intersection with Norwood St, from that of a District Road to that of a Collector Road as these are defined within the District Plan.

Action 3: The Council should:

Include North Road in North East Valley from the Gardens Corner to the Normanby intersection with Norwood St, in the next speed limit review to provide a forum for community advocacy for a reduction in the posted speed limit to 40kmh or possibly 30kmh.

Action 4: The Council should:

Initiate feasibility study and consultation on planning for a 30kph precinct from Glendinning Avenue to the Gardens Corner following the example of the precinct in George St.

2.3 Community Sustainability and Resilience: Transport Issues

Transition Valley 473 Transport Group supports submissions to the 2011 – 2012 Draft Annual Plan that enhance community sustainability and resilience through transport related activities, in particular those which promote more environmentally friendly movement of people and goods.

2.3.1 We support submissions such as that by Spokes calling for prioritising the establishing and linking up of bicycle routes to make it safer and more effective for people to cycle. Examples include from North East Valley through the campus, and linking up with the bicycle route around West Harbour and Portsmouth Drive, and proceeding with the Port Chalmers to Boat Harbour cycleway and the Caversham to Wingatui cycleway via rail tunnels.
2.3.2 We support submissions promoting walking paths linking communities and asking the Council to expand their provision of footpaths within communities so that people can travel more easily by foot. Examples from North East Valley include from the top of Arnold St to Evans St, the top of Watts Rd to Campbell Rd and incorporation of walking paths in the Leith Lindsay Flood Protection scheme work.
.
2.3.3 We support the call by Spokes in their submission calling for stronger recognition of the importance of active transportation in city development, as it is essential to the Council’s plans for a sustainable city.

2.4 Community Sustainability and Resilience: Other Issues
2.4.1 Transition Valley 473 Transport Group supports submissions to the 2011 – 2012 Draft Annual Plan that enhance community sustainability and resilience through activities other than those directly related to transport.. We support the submission by TV473's Initiating Committee/Food and Garden Working Group submission calling for the prioritising of action on Climate Change, Peak Oil and resilience and for Council initiatives to increase the number of fruit and nut trees planted on Council land and continued Council support for home insulation and energy savings.

We thank you for your attention to this submission

Yours sincerely,

Name: Peter McDonald
Position: TV473 Transport Group member
Address: Box 8081, Dunedin 9041
Contact Ph. No: 473 1681
Email address: peterd0n@clear.net.nz
Name: Alex King
Position: TV473 Transport Group Chair
Address:
Contact Ph. No:
Email address: alex@king.net.nz

Appended:
Lower Urban Speed Limits: better for citizens, better for the environment, better for all. T&E Fact Sheet, The European Federation for Transport and Environment, 2001

References:
Archer J., et al 2008 The impact of lowered speed limits in urban and metropolitan areas, Monash University Accident Research Centre - Report #276 [2008]. Authors: J. Archer, N. Fotheringham, M. Symmons & B. Corben

Engwicht D, 2011 Creating Resilient Cities: Training Module 102, Creative Communities

Engwicht D, 2011 The Art of Place Making: Training Module 101, Creative Communities

Senior Traffic Engineer Report to the Dunedin City Council dated 4 October 2010 on the subject AMENDED SPEED LIMITS BYLAW 2004

Please find final document attached FYI