Mahere o te Pokapū o Howick Howick Village Centre Plan

The Howick Village Centre Plan is a Howick Local Board initiative, designed to build on the strengths of Howick and to ensure the village thrives in the future.

The plan sets out a 30-year vision for Howick based on four interlinked key concepts. Each concept is supported by actions that will help to realise the vision.

The concepts and actions were developed with Howick's passionate local community, the wider council family and other key groups.

We received over 400 pieces of feedback from the community through online feedback, drop-in sessions, meetings with community groups, market day stalls, surveys, questionnaires and a series of workshops with students from local schools.

We want Howick to be an attractive, lively and walkable village that celebrates its history and provides a strong sense of identity and community.

In 30 years, Howick will have enhanced its distinctive village atmosphere and will continue to celebrate its past.

Residents and visitors alike will enjoy the experience of being in a bustling character village nestled in its natural landscape, and they will come away with an appreciation of the stories of Howick.

• Build heritage trails, public realm developments and install informative signage to help showcase Howick's diverse history.
• Implement the Howick Local Board's Heritage Plan.
• Develop shopfront signage guidelines to encourage a retail streetscape that contributes to the character of the village.

In 30 years, locals and visitors alike will appreciate Howick's relaxed and vibrant village atmosphere, local facilities, art and culture.

Howick will be an inclusive community, with activities and events attracting people of all ages.

The village will have welcoming and active public spaces centred around a village square that functions as a social hub.

• Make the village square an active, multiuse space for the community that celebrates Howick's history and identity and functions as a heart of the village.
• Make Fencible Walk a more usable, exciting and attractive green space that provides a clear link through to the library and Uxbridge Centre.
• Ensure that future development of council-owned sites within the village enhances the village atmosphere.
• Promote local events and activities.
• Encourage more arts and culture within the village, particularly in key public spaces.
• Create spaces that are able to support local events (including pop-up events) and activities.
• Create a playground at Crawford Reserve.
• Empower the community, particularly our young people, to organise events and showcase their creativity within the village.
• Encourage outdoor dining, while ensuring accessibility.
• Create a dog friendly space close to the village.

In 30 years, Howick will be a walkable and well-connected village where people can move around safely and easily.

An accessible village will be better positioned to serve an increased population with diverse interests.

We will encourage visitors and locals to explore the village guided by signage leading to key locations such as the beach and Stockade Hill.

• Make Picton Street more walkable. Ideas could include street build outs (pictured right), lowering the speed limit and more opportunities for event based pedestrianisation (such as Midnight Madness).
• Improve pedestrian access from the village centre to Stockade Hill.
• Improve the connection from the village to the beach and Stockade Hill by providing walking and cycling directional signage and/or visual paving cues.
• Improve pedestrian safety on the footpath over Countdown driveway on Fencible Drive.
• Provide wayfinding signage at locations within the village to guide people to key places such as Stockade Hill, community facilities and other places of significance.
• Activate laneways, where appropriate, through lighting, signage and artwork.
• Look at providing cycle stands at appropriate locations in the village and at Howick beach.

In 30 years, the green spaces and rich biodiversity provided by existing trees and healthy waterways will support and enhance the health and wellbeing of both the community and the wider natural environment.

The sustainable design that has been adopted throughout Howick village will help to realise the green village concept.

• Integrate water sensitive stormwater design treatments into future streetscape upgrades on main roads such as Picton Street, where appropriate.
• Improve stormwater and wastewater infrastructure, and support the monitoring of water quality at Howick Beach.
• Look at ways to link existing open spaces to each other.
• Support community-led environmental and public management programmes for enhancing and restoring the environment.
• Develop a community garden in Howick.
• Support community-led initiatives for stream restoration on private property.
  Investigate recycling options including bins on the main streets and commit to zero waste for public events.

Since the Howick Village Centre Plan was adopted in 2017 funding has been committed to employ a project manager to help in the delivery of actions both within the Howick Village Centre Plan and the Howick Heritage Plan.

The Howick Local Board has committed to funding for project delivery, including:

• transport related projects
• way finding and information signage, and
• interpretative panels and plaques.

If you are interested in helping to achieve one of the actions in the plan, please email Howick's Strategic Broker (from the community empowerment unit) via the Howick Local Board.