ViaStrada August 2010 Newsletter

At the recent 2010 Walking and Cycling Awards, Whakatane District Council was awarded the ViaStrada Best Practice Walking Facility award, for its Warren Cole Walk and Cycleway. The 2.1 km all-weather facilty links the Whakatane River Bridge to the Whakatane Gardens and CBD.

Other Golden Foot award winners are identified on the Living Streets Aotearoa website.

Read more: http://viastrada.co.nz/node/1559

The world's largest cycling conference, Velo-City, was held in Copenhagen, Denmark from 22 to 25 June 2010. The conference was attended by ViaStrada director Andrew Macbeth, who had attended previous Velo-City conferences in 1989 (also Copenhagen) and Montreal (1992). Over 1,000 people from 60 countries attended this year. Here's Andrew's summary of Copenhagen's Velo-City and some thoughts on his visits to Cambridge and Bristol in the UK.

Read more: http://viastrada.co.nz/node/1509

ViaStrada has begun a programme of professional development with Christchurch City Council's graduate civil engineers. Under the programme, the engineers work for six weeks with ViaStrada, as part of their general experience preparing for IPENZ certification as chartered professional engineers. Within the council, they will work in a variety of fields including traffic engineering, transportation planning, civil engineering, roading, drainage and structural design. ViaStrada is the first consultancy to be used by CCC in this fashion and is one of IPENZ's "Professional Development Partners".

Read more: http://viastrada.co.nz/node/1563

ViaStrada’s planners and traffic planners assisted Akaroa Orchards Ltd to obtain consent for a comprehensive residential development in the L1A5 (Deferred) zone at  Prebbleton, in Selwyn District, south of Christchurch. The consents obtained enabled development of the first nine residential units straight away, with subsequent development occurring as further sewer capacity becomes available. The consent also allowed for the continued operation of an existing plant nursery on the site until the commencement of Stage 2.

Read more: http://viastrada.co.nz/node/1571

The Hamilton City Council commissioned ViaStrada to undertake a review of physical barriers to cycling in the Hamilton central city, as well as identification of current and potential cycle routes. The NZTA Cyclist Skills Training Guidelines (2008) definitions of different rider types was used to envision three skills-based networks.

Read more: http://viastrada.co.nz/node/1556

ViaStrada has developed an automatic cycle counting programme for Hamilton City Council (HCC). The project identifies approximate site locations, counter types, time frames and indicative costs.

Read more: http://viastrada.co.nz/node/1553

ViaStrada (Nelson Office) has been engaged to process Plan Change 21 for the Council. This private plan change relates to an extension to the Waikawa Bay Marina Zone and creation of new moorings areas to allow for swing moorings in Waikawa Bay.

Read more: http://viastrada.co.nz/node/1564

ViaStrada (Nelson office) is the principal RMA and planning advisor for the 600 lot Marsden Park development in Nelson. This development, located in Marsden Valley, has been designed around urban design principles, and features a new commercial centre and a mix of housing densities. Development of the first stage (130 lots) is underway and sections will be available soon.

Read more: http://viastrada.co.nz/node/1565

The next course is planned for Wellington on 20 and 21 September. For a registration form and further information, visit our Advanced Training page.

Read more: http://viastrada.co.nz/node/1228

SIDRA INTERSECTION Training Workshop

ViaStrada is the only NZ accredited organisation that can provide SIDRA INTERSECTION training workshops. We offer publicly advertised courses and in-house courses for consultancies and local councils.

Beginner and intermediate courses are being offered in Auckland on 8 - 9 November (beginner) and 10 - 11 November. For more information, visit our SIDRA Training page.

Read more: http://viastrada.co.nz/node/96

There was an enthusiastic response from a capacity crowd to Andrew Macbeth's illustrated presentation in Nelson on 28 July 2010. The talk was based on Andrew's recent trip to Copenhagen and the UK. Andrew's main theme was that urban designers, traffic engineers and other professionals all work in the same space and need to work together better to provide sustainable towns and cities exhibiting great urban design.

Read more: http://viastrada.co.nz/node/1549