Island Bay village upgrades

We are planning to upgrade the public spaces and look and feel of the Island Bay shopping centre along The Parade.

About the project

Funding for the village upgrade was approved in our Long-Term Plan 2021-2031. The aim is to improve access, increase safety, and strengthen the suburb’s special identity.

The project covers the main shopping area, and the area near the Empire Cinema & Eatery on The Parade near Mersey Street.   

Where things are at

Working with people who live and run businesses in the area, we developed a concept design that will:

  • prioritise pedestrians
  • strengthen the identity and special character of Island Bay village
  • improve safety and accessibility
  • provide more attractive and functional spaces for community activity 
  • resurface footpaths and improve the lighting. 

To improve access and safety, and accentuate the suburb’s coastal location, the new design elements include:

Environment: Garden beds with native coastal plants and grasses, and raised planter boxes.

Lighting: Veranda lighting in main shopping area to make things safer and lighter, new lighting in the pedestrian laneway between The Parade and Clyde Street, up lights to make a feature of the trees and seats.

Public spaces: Resurface footpaths to improve accessibility and safety, create appealing places to stop and rest with new benches and bespoke site-specific seats, install new bins and bike racks, and create more space for businesses where people can sit and relax.

Arts and heritage: Include stories and quotes that reflect the area’s history in surfaces and signs, and have local artists develop murals on the public toilets and in the laneway between The Parade and Clyde Street.

Outside Island Bay Library: Upgrade the outdoor space so it is more appealing and accessible, create a place where people can stop and sit, and make some changes that will appeal to children.

Outside Empire Cinema and bus stop: Resurface and enhance the footpath with planters and seats to make a clear distinction between the pedestrian area and the shared space around the bus stop.

The changes planned on The Parade through the main shopping centre and near Mersey Street have been designed to cohesively link and complement the bike lane improvements that have been completed this year.

The design has a marked path that will connect with the lanes north and south of the shops for people who want to safely and slowly bike or scoot into or through the shopping centre.

Together, these changes will allow people of all ages and abilities to ride more safely all the way along The Parade if they want to. They will also make it clear where people should ride or expect to see bikes, and where pedestrians have priority.

Island Bay village proposed design concept (3MB PDF)

Next steps 

The annotated concept plans (3MB PDF) are now available.  

They have been designed in collaboration with a working group of locals including the Island Bay Residents Association. If you have feedback, email psd.islandbay@wcc.govt.nz

Koata Hātepe, our Regulatory Processes Committee met on Wednesday 14 December 2022 and considered the related traffic changes (which you can view on our Letstalk website) for this area and decided that this project can proceed with the detailed design and construction. 

If approved, construction work is expected to begin in about August next year. Work near Mersey Street is expected to happen in 2024. 

Map of the area of changes, showing The Parade from the library in the South, to just pas Avon Street in the North. And the intersection around the Empire Cinema.

Public engagement

More information

Urban Design: Public Space Design + Delivery Team
Email: psd.islandbay@wcc.govt.nz

For specific queries on the parking, traffic resolution and safety improvements on The Parade, contact the project email, theparade@wcc.govt.nz

For more information on the upgrade please visit The Parade Transport projects webpage