CBD Lighting Strategy (Adopted July 2010)

Transcription

1 CBD Lighting Strategy (Adopted July 2010)

2 (Adopted July 2010) ISBN Prepared by: Published By: Duncan Rothwell - Principal Planner-Urban Design Gisborne District Council Fitzherbert Street P O Box 747 Gisborne page 2

3 Background Aims and objectives Scope Other strategies Standards Stakeholders The CBD lighting strategy Short term projects Medium term projects Long term projects Sources of funding Conclusion References/Links APPENDIX A: Proposed Action Plan Table of contents

4 Background This was first initiated by staff from Council and the Heart of Gisborne to address safety and security in the CBD after dark. There was also a mutual desire to better celebrate our special heritage buildings, landmarks, bridges and other water front assets in and around the heart of the city. Moreover, improvements in way finding were considered important with better lighting along key pedestrian routes and linkages connecting significant spaces and places across the city centre, like the inner harbour. The first step was to carry out a lighting audit to identify the main issues relating to the quality of the street, amenity, decorative and car park lighting across the city centre. This was a joint exercise undertaken in August 2009 by the Police, staff from Council and the Heart of Gisborne, together with a representative from their Executive Board. The next step was to use the findings from the audit to inform and prepare this strategy. Aims and objectives The main aim of this is to improve the quality, consistency and efficiency of night lighting in the city centre. If this Strategy is implemented and successful it will: Enhance the image, identity and vibrancy of the CBD. Improve safety and security in the CBD by reducing crime and the fear of crime. Showcase our significant heritage buildings, landmarks, bridges, water front assets and public art. Improve way finding between important spaces and places. Improve the evening economy by encouraging more attractive and safer night-time activities. Encourage wider investment opportunities in the CBD. Improve local community pride. Scope This provides direction for public and private external lighting throughout the CBD. The strategy identifies the current lighting issues, recommends possible solutions and sets short, medium and long term priorities for future initiatives. Indicative costs and resourcing issues are also identified where relevant. The Strategy focuses on a coordinated response to lighting in the CBD. It avoids detailed technical guidance but recommends this will be required to successfully deliver the initiatives set out below. This Lighting Strategy has a 5 year life span, after which time it should be reviewed. Other Strategies This applies the principles set out in the New Zealand Urban Design Protocol and the National Guidelines for Crime Prevention through Environmental Design, both of which promote well designed safer places. It also aligns with the following directions and objectives of the Council s Urban Development Strategy: Key Direction 2: Quality Environment Places and Spaces Key Objectives 2.2 A vibrant city centre. 2.3 Attractive entrances to and routes through the city. 2.4 Improvement in the values of the city waterways. 2.8 Increased use of good urban design practice. 2.9 A sense of place and celebration of local identity. Key Direction 4: Vibrant Culture and identification with Heritage Key Objective 4.3 Protection and promotion of the city s heritage. page 1

5 Further, the promotes the following Community Outcomes, as contained in Tairāwiti by Choice: A Connected Tairāwhiti A Prosperous Tairāwhiti A Vibrant Tairāwhiti A Safe Tairāwhiti A Environmentally Sustainable Tairāwhiti Actions Ensure the walkways are well lit. Enhance the CBD lighting design so that it is focused on high use areas and routes between high use areas. Encourage a lighting design which is also attractive and will encourage evening CBD use. Encourage retailers to leave lighting on at night. Trim trees in the CBD away from lighting and security cameras to optimise security. Establish well lit signage advising transport options. Establish well lit boards for key evening location/s to inform the community of evening activities. Finally, this document responds to the draft Heart of Gisborne Central Business District Hospitality Strategy, which aims to promote a vibrant and economically viable city centre after dark. This document sets out a number of relevant Goals, Strategies and Action Steps to achieve this aim, the relevant ones being: Goals 1. To promote evening developments in the CBD which are focused on economic expansion and community preference for the evening economy. 2. To promote a safe environment for evening activities in the CBD. 3. To ensure safe and affordable transit to and from the CBD at night. 4. To promote a collaborative approach between CBD stakeholders and with community groups. Strategies Promote evening activity developments in the CBD. Provide safe transit between the CBD and the harbour area. Develop a better lit CBD. Develop a CBD based on the principles of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design. Ensure the evening CBD community is aware of safe transport options and how to access them. Standards The current New Zealand standards set four lighting levels for both pedestrian and vehicular traffic illumination. Lighting for pedestrian traffic is designed to illuminate the front of objects and people. Conversely, vehicular traffic lighting is designed to provide background lighting to silhouette objects on the roadway, while headlights illuminate the front surface. In the CBD, the street lighting has been designed primarily for vehicular traffic use. In the past pedestrian and amenity lighting was provided by under-verandah and shop front lighting. The guiding instruments for good road and street lighting design practice are the following Australian and New Zealand Standards: AS Control of the Obtrusive Effects of Outdoor Lighting. AS/NZS :2005 Road Lighting - Introduction. AS/NZS :2005 Road Lighting - Vehicular traffic (Category V) lighting - Performance and design requirements. AS/NZS :1997 Road Lighting - Vehicular traffic (Category V) lighting - Guide to design, installation, operation and maintenance. AS/NZS :2005 Road Lighting - Pedestrian area (Category P) lighting - Performance and design requirements. AS/NZS Sports Lighting - General Principles. page 2

6 In general, all new and improved road and street lighting should be designed to comply with the details of these standards, although they are not mandatory. Stakeholders The appearance of the city centre after dark is the product of both private and public lighting. The Council s influence on private lighting is limited. Therefore, good communication and collaboration is necessary if this strategy is to achieve synergy between private and public initiatives. For this reason, the Strategy has been developed in consultation with the following key stakeholders: the Heart of Gisborne and New Zealand Police. It has also been a joint exercise within Council with input from the Roading and Community Facilities Departments. The Project Boundaries The The geographical boundary of the study area, marked with a red line, generally coincides with the Heart of Gisborne boundary. It takes in Gladstone Road and the side streets of Customhouse, Lowe, Peel, Bright, Grey and Derby Streets together with Reads Quay and the southern end of Childers Road. Connections to the town beach, the inner harbour area and the bridges are also discussed in this Strategy, as these are considered important routes into the central business district. The Existing Lighting Situation The aforementioned CBD Lighting Audit of the CBD was carried out in the evening of Wednesday 5 August From this, the most important observations one can make about the existing lighting situation in the city centre are: The public street lighting is designed primarily for the needs of the traffic, rather than pedestrians. The noticeable dim and yellow lighting from the low pressure sodium street lamps. The dim and inconsistent lighting along the shop fronts and under the verandahs. The undistinguished public and private decorative lighting system. The dim lighting in public carparks, including the library and theatre carparks in Bright Street. The poor lighting along key pedestrian routes, notably the links to the inner harbour area and city beaches, via Customhouse Street and Grey Street and from Bright Street to Treble Court, particularly adjacent to the Library carpark. The link from the CBD to the War Memorial Theatre is also poorly lit. page 3

7 The dim lighting at key transport connections including the bus terminal and the taxi rank stand in Bright Street. The use of high efficiency luminaires with high performance optical systems with reduced light spill. The use of high efficiency lamps. The use of energy efficient electronic control gear. The use of flexible control systems. The application of strict maintenance and replacement regimes. The Lighting Strategy The strategic lighting proposals outlined are designed to inform and guide future lighting investment within the CBD over the next five years. As such they are broken down into three timescale groups. Each group discusses the public and private lighting initiatives in turn. Costs and resourcing issues are also discussed where relevant. Example of dim and inconsistent under verandah lighting in Peel Street and Lowe Streets The Lighting Audit also identified a number of relatively minor issues including: Faulty street lamps and feature lights. Shadowing effects from low limbed trees. Dark patches between street lights. Sustainability Energy consumption, sky glow and the cost of maintenance and equipment disposal are all byproducts of any lighting scheme. This Lighting Strategy promotes a positive approach to sustainability and aims to minimise energy use, reduce energy waste and light pollution. This can be achieved through: Short Term Projects The following short terms projects have been identified as they could be relatively inexpensive to implement and will have a significant effect on the current lighting situation within the city centre. Private Initiatives Heart of Gisborne to encourage traders to illuminate their shop windows and verandahs after hours using energy efficient bulbs. Limit the duration of shop window lighting to maximize its effectiveness, and limit energy consumption. Police to specifically encourage better lighting at ATM locations. Some are poorly lit and could be perceived as being unsafe. Improved lighting design. Example of poorly lit ATM machine page 4

8 Public Initiatives Council to provide technical guidance to traders and property owners in respect of the above private initiatives. This is to ensure a consistent and subtle lighting approach is achieved - and reinforce the philosophy that bright is not necessarily right. It is also a primary goal to ensure the best possible lit environment is created using the lowest possible energy consumption and minimised light spill and light pollution. This technical guidance can be provided in house from the Council s Roading Section at no extra cost. Most of the existing yellow lights are about half way through their 4-5 year life span. Council to repair faulty street lamps and feature lighting. Costs for this work are included in the annual maintenance budget. The contractor has response targets to ensure faulty lights are repaired promptly. GDC to program the conversion of existing yellow (sodium) streetlights within the city centre to take white (metal halide) lamps. The main benefit of converting to this type of light is that the standard of lighting gives greater colour rendering and facial recognition which would assist pedestrian users and CCTV monitoring. Highest priority to should be given to those parts of the CBD which have the greatest pedestrian activity. Therefore, it is recommended that the program starts with the conversion of streetlights in Gladstone Road from Customhouse to Derby Street and the remainder of Peel Street, then the other side streets to follow. Lighting in public car parks should also be converted as a priority. The energy efficiency and replacement costs of white lamps will be similar to the existing yellow streetlights. The only cost is in accelerating the normal replacement programme. white v s yellow light It is estimated that the breakdown of costs for this initiative will be: Conversion to metal halide: 100 $100 ea - $10,000 Council to continue strategically pruning trees to reduce the shadowing effect on the footpaths and car parks. All street trees are pruned twice per year to ensure clear street lighting, power lines and sight lines. There is a balance between pruning for facilities and killing the tree or reducing tree health. It is noteworthy that the CBD palms will soon grow to a height above the street lights and CCTV cameras, if we continue to prune carefully. Excessive pruning will slow growth and damage trees. All pruning is carried out by a qualified arborist to ensure tree health is protected. page 5

9 Medium Term Projects The strategy also identifies a number of medium term lighting initiatives which could be completed in the next 2-3 years. Some of these would require higher levels of funding and resources, as indicated. Private Initiatives HoG to promote creative shop window displays that engage the attention of passers by, and add interest to the street edge. Initiate a program to improve the appearance of shop windows. Support themed retail displays. Encourage traders to consider the total image of their shop front, including external architectural and signage. Promote frequent changes to the content and format of display windows. Roller shutter doors can have an adverse effect on the street scene Support after hours shopping events such as late night Christmas shopping. Coordinate these with other events happening in the city to maximize levels of activity after dark. Public Initiatives GDC to program the conversion of yellow sodium lamps with blue-white lights in areas of high amenity, such as the riverside walkway. Also install at underpass locations where practicable. Blue-white light provides good retention of greens and browns. Parks and gardens attract less use after dark, therefore a lower performance specification is justified; rather than white lights as recommended for the city centre. Good example of an attractive well lit shop front Encourage shop owners to replace external roller shutters and grilles with less obtrusive security devices. Promote the use of internal grilles, shatterproof glass and transparent protective coatings. Long Term Projects These long term initiatives would require a higher commitment to funding and resources. GDC to consider a detailed architectural and way finding lighting master plan to include the illumination of heritage buildings, landmarks and key routes to create a visually interesting, safe and attractive night time ambience. Good example of an unobtrusive internal security grille The creative possibilities by dynamic architectural and feature lighting including colour, projection and movement are limitless. Lighting spectacle could be part of the vision bringing entertainment, excitement, richness and diversity to Gisborne City. An example of this may be to select some of the more interesting façades and landmarks within the street scene and apply sensitive lighting treatment which could vary with intensity, colour and numbers to react in differing ways thereby making a visit a unique experience. page 6

10 The architectural lighting at the Oamaru Opera House is an excellent example of what can be achieved in this respect. This won the 2009 Lighting Design Award organised by the illuminating Engineering Society of Australia and New Zealand. Of course, the master plan should also address way finding and lighting along the key pedestrian routes and transport connections as identified above, particularly the links with the city beaches and the inner harbour. One idea for example, could be to install decorative lighting on the bridges similar to the original gas lanterns. Lighting up the bridges could also enhance the appearance of these important gateways into the CBD. The master plan could also consider more straight forward and cost effective measures such as the installation of better lighting in the library carpark and adjacent link to Treble Court. Replacing the solid and rear panels of the nearby bus terminal with transparent ones would also maximise light spill and make people waiting for an evening bus feel safer. Similar intervention could occur near the taxi rank and adjacent map of the city centre. These simple measures should be considered alongside the more elaborate architectural lighting. A good example of enhanced amenity lighting that has improved way finding can be found in Twizel town centre in the Mackenzie District. Photos of Oamaru Theatre courtesy of Mark Herring Lighting Spectacle lighting could also be linked to the city s festivals and events by applying projections onto venues or key structures creating an immediate visual association with the event which would have considerable news worthy impact and thus help market the Gisborne brand. Auckland City opened their two week Heritage Festival by illuminating all their heritage buildings. The city of Tauranga complement their annual Jazz Festival held at the Strand with an impressive coordinated lighting display. page 7

11 In terms of bridges, the photograph of Victoria Bridge in central Christchurch demonstrates the possibilities of well planned decorative lighting techniques. Sources of Funding The major benefit of the proposed lighting initiatives within this strategy will be to the people of Gisborne, in terms of a friendly, more usable night time environment, reduced crime and disturbance, and increased tourism, hospitality and retail spend. As there is a wider community benefit, it is considered that the design, installation and maintenance of public lighting schemes should be borne by public funds, should this be a desirable outcome. Photos of Twizel Town Centre and Victoria Bridge in Christchurch courtesy of Mark Herring Lighting The following proposed schemes could help encourage and stimulate the private initiatives set out in this strategy. The main benefits of a detailed lighting master plan are a coordinated and consistent approach with likely long term cost savings through economies of scale. This type of architectural lighting is a highly specialised area and the importance of using qualified lighting professionals to undertake this project must be emphasised. To ensure effective co-ordination the proposed lighting master plan could include the inner harbour area, as this area is programmed for environmental beautification works in It makes sense that any new lighting here fits in with the rest of the city centre. The anticipated cost for this master plan would be in the order of $30K. The cost of implementing the work would be determined through the master plan. Centrally Organised Maintenance This would ease the burden on private building owners and ensure maintenance is consistent and is correctly carried out. Council could put out to tender a contract for maintenance of all approved private installations (such as feature and under verandah lighting) with the billing going to individual building owners. This integrated maintenance scheme would provide economies of scale, while keeping the financial responsibilities with the owners. Bulk Buying of Equipment The bulk purchase of lighting equipment with substantial trade reductions could help persuade building owners to take part in the private initiatives. GDC to consider lighting in future development proposals, District Plan reviews; and the formulation of other guidelines including Design Guidelines. This work would be carried out by Council staff at no additional cost. The Lighting Strategy is summarised in the Action Plan found in Appendix A. page 8

12 Grant Funding Council and its partners should also explore alternative sources of grant funding from, amongst others, the Ministry of Justice Crime Prevention Unit, the New Zealand Lottery Grant Board (Environment and Heritage) and the Eastern and Central Community Trust, for example. Conclusion Putting this into effect requires further work by the project partners, being Gisborne District Council, Heart of Gisborne, the Police, and local business interests. The Strategy identifies a number of private and public lighting initiatives designed to deliver cost effective ways of enhancing safety and amenity in the city centre. The desired outcome will attract people and more night-time activities into the city centre achieved by enhancing legibility, improving the appearance of key buildings and landmarks and the quality of public spaces. Put simply, the city centre will become a safer and more attractive place to visit and spend time and money after dark. page 9

13 References/Links New Zealand Urban Design Protocol. Ministry for the Environment National Guidelines for Crime Prevention through Environmental Design in New Zealand. Ministry of Justice, Public Lighting in Australia - Energy Efficiency Challenges and Opportunities. Department of the Environment and Heritage. Australian Greenhouse Office. Street Lighting Energy Efficiency Study. Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority Lighting Strategy, City of Melbourne, Lighting Strategy for Gloucester, page 10

14 APPENDIX A - Proposed Action Plan for When What Who How much Comments Short Term Encourage enhanced shop front and verandah lighting in Gladstone Road and side streets including Lowe, Peel, Bright, Grey and Derby Streets. Encourage enhanced lighting at ATM locations. Repair faulty street lamps and feature lighting. Continue staged conversion of yellow (sodium) streetlights to white (metal halide) lamps in Gladstone Road and side streets. Heart of Gisborne and its respective members. Council s Roading Engineer to prepare an information pamphlet that provides technical advice to ensure an environmentally sound and a consistent approach to the level of lighting. New Zealand Police to liaise with relevant property owners and businesses. Council s Roading Engineer to ensure contractors are working within required timeframes. Council s Roading Engineer to action. No cost to Council. Low cost to retailers. No cost but some staff resources required. No cost to Council. Included in annual maintenance budget. $11,600 This has been actioned. The only cost was accelerating the normal replacement programme. Continue strategic pruning of trees in city centre particularly Gladstone Road, Grey Street and Reads Quay. Council Reserve Staff to ensure contractors are working to required standards and provide direction as and when required. The benefits of this initiative can be seen. Included in existing budget. Refer to page 5. - APPENDIX A page 11

15 When What Who How much Comments Medium Term Long Term Promote creative shop window displays. Promote unobtrusive security devices in the city centre. Promote after hours shopping events. Staged conversion of yellow (sodium) lamps with blue-white lights in areas of high amenity like the riverside. Prepare a detailed architectural and way finding lighting master plan to include the illumination of heritage buildings, landmarks and key routes in the city centre and the inner harbour area. Consider lighting in future development proposals, District Plan reviews and the formulation of Design Guidelines. Heart of Gisborne to initiate. Heart of Gisborne and the Council Planning Department to prepare an information pamphlet to illustrate good design for shop front security. Heart of Gisborne to initiate and coordinate. Council to consider additional budget costs shared between roading and reserves section depending on the location. Council to consider additional budget required to commission professional and technical input. Cross department input required. Council Planning Department to review existing planning provisions. No cost to Council. No cost to Council but will involve some staff resourcing. Low. $10,000 per year. Cost should be considered in context of normal replacement programme. In the region of $30,000. The implementation costs would be determined in the scope of the master plan. This would need to be considered in the 2012 Ten Year Plan as there is currently no existing budget for this. No cost to Council. Refer to page 6. - APPENDIX A page 12

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