Footpath improvements Yrs 1 & 2 approved

In response to community feedback, footpaths have been highlighted as a priority in Kaikōura District Council’s 2021-31 Long term Plan (LTP) with an investment of $1.5m allocated to the programme.

Dave Clibbery, Senior Manager Operations commented “Due to cost-saving measures over many years, much of Kaikōura’s 42 kilometres of footpaths have inexpensive chipseal surfaces which have now deteriorated to an unsatisfactory condition. We are now attempting to tackle some of the backlog.”

While $1.5m is a significant investment it is not sufficient to improve all of the footpaths and a group of community representatives has been working with Council to make decisions on how the available budget can be best used.

At their last group meeting on 28 February the Footpaths Working Group confirmed their recommendations for years 1 and 2 of the improvement programme. The recommendations were shared with Mayor and Councillors and were supported.

The working group have favoured construction of new concrete footpaths to completely replace some existing footpaths that are in extremely poor condition. They also favour construction of new footpaths to complete some missing connections between existing paths. In addition to these new footpaths, they have recommended some limited patch repairs of other existing footpaths where complete replacement of the path does not appear to be necessary.

Dave Clibbery said, “The footpath group have been thorough in identifying the programme priorities for the next couple of years, and we are more confident in taking it forward having had their valuable input. Discussions on the programme for years 8 to 10 continue and will be confirmed at a later date.”

“The invitation to tender for the pavement works was advertised on 15 March and will close 29 March. Once the contractor prices have been received, council staff and the group will be in a better position to judge how much of that list we can achieve with the available budgets.”

Recommended Footpath Improvement Locations

A list of the locations for new concrete footpaths prioritised by the group for construction between April and December 2023 are outlined below.

Please note where street numbers have been provided they are to aid identification of the location of the footpath section and are approximate anchor points only.

• Beach Rd – 250m, starting at No.147 (approx.) to Gillings Lane
• Beach Rd – 350m, Starting from to No.205 (approx.) to Gillings Lane
• Churchill Park – 190m, new footpath starting from Deal Street
• Kiwi Street - 120m, starting at No.2 Kiwi Street to No.9 (approx.)
• Esplanade – 230m, from Margate to Ramsgate
• Esplanade – 225m, Brighton to Ramsgate
• Bayview St – 110m, from No.28 (approx.) to No. 41 (approx.)
• Ramp replacement for existing steps between Torquay St & TakahangaTerrace (provisional only, feasibility requires further investigation)

The Footpath Improvement Schedule will be shared on Kaikōura District Council’s Facebook, Footpath Improvement webpage here, and Council Newsletter.