Chch car-parks ‘often boring’

Press, 1 June 1984, Page 7

Chch car-parks ‘often boring’

Christchurch car-parks are often “boring and uninspiring," according to the Christchurch Civic Trust. A 36-page booklet on improving the construction and maintenance of city car-parks was released by the trust this week, after a three-month survey of more than 160 car-parks. It was a response to a general concern that “all was not well with car-park design in Christchurch,” said the writers. While most car-parks were found to be functional, few were visually attractive. About one-third of the car-parks were “at best functional but otherwise so unattractive as to detract from the landscape." Only about one in five (usually the newer ones) were considered both functional and attractive, while 45 per cent were “functional but visually mediocre.” The best results were achieved with the simplest concepts, the survey found. It also emphasised the use of trees and shrubs to provide shelter, shade, and screening. The trust suggested that local bodies could assist the improvement of older and less attractive car-parks by rate relief or by giving advice and materials. Other Recommendations wre for

a single umbrella provision to cover the existing provisions in various district schemes, and for the open space concept to be extended to include car-parks.