Entry received from: Palmerston North City Council
Category: The Department of Internal Affairs Award for Excellence in Community Engagement
The Highbury Shops Revitalisation project was 1 a community-led project to transform the neighbourhood shopping centre of the Highbury suburb of Palmerston North into a vibrant space of whanaungatanga (kinship) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship and protection). The project commenced in late 2021, with implementation occuring across June-August 2023. The project was introduced into the 2021-2031 Long-Term Plan following multiple submissions from the Highbury community who were concerned about the safety of the Highbury shopping centre area. The key purpose of the project was to improve the experiences and perceptions of safety, community connectedness and cultural identity of the Highbury community by revitalising the Highbury shopping centre and immediate surrounding streets.
Council applied a community-led co-design approach to this project, and it was delivered under the wider umbrella of the neighbourhood-based collective impact Whānau Ora Alliance kaupapa, Ora Konnect, of which Council is a partner, alongside mana whenua Rangitāne o Manawatū, local for[1]purpose Iwi Māori organisations, and central government agencies.
This is the first time Council has applied this type of approach to an infrastructure project of this scale, and its success has created a strong case for the approach to be replicated across future projects in the city and beyond.
Thank you to our category sponsor