Severe weather impacts and road closures
We’re temporarily activating a vacant Council site at Daly Street before it is redeveloped following the stopbank upgrade by Te Wai Takamori o Te Awa Kairangi (formerly RiverLink).
The vacant site is owned by Council and is at a prominent location along the river corridor. This gives us the opportunity to draw people into the city centre, with more reasons to visit, stay longer and spend more. It’s also well connected to High Street via laneways
It’s great chance for us to try out new ideas in a temporary way that can inform future projects around the city centre and throughout Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai Lower Hutt.
Te Tōpūnga Hapori i Daly Street is now open at 9 Daly Street and ready for your whole whānau to explore. Give the pump track and half basketball court a go, or just relax and enjoy this exciting new community space.
What’s at Te Tōpūnga Hapori i Daly Street?
At Te Tōpūnga Hapori i Daly Street you’ll find:
- A pump track
- A half basketball court
- Seating and tables – painted with a local artist and students from Hutt Valley High School
- Accessible surfaces so everyone can enjoy the space
- A low stage for events
- Planters including a wheelchair accessible one
- A labyrinth by Tape Art NZ
- Communications board
We’ve also partnered with volunteer-powered charitable trust Free Ride who are based in Naenae. Te Tōpūnga Hapori i Daly Street will be an extension of their mahi, bringing bike-related events for all ages into our city centre.
For more information on events coming up visit Free Ride’s website or follow them on Facebook.
Previous community engagement revealed that people are keen on:
- A social and family destination with vibrant street-based activities
- A better night-time economy
- High amenity for inner city living
- A walkable city centre including pedestrian laneways
We worked with businesses, residents, and community groups who call the city centre home to further develop our ideas and design for Te Tōpūnga Hapori i Daly Street.
What we’ve heard is:
Community ideas | Business ideas |
|
|
Following this engagement, we developed a plan for successfully activating the site.
Te Tōpūnga Hapori i Daly Street officially opened for the community at a Pedal & Play launch event on Saturday 12 April 2025.
The space may change over time as we continue to respond to community feedback and use.
Our kaupapa
With the Daly Street project our kaupapa has been to keep things low cost, recycle wherever possible, and try new things we could roll-out around our city.
All the items we’re putting into Daly Street can be repurposed around the city once the space is needed for further development – in some cases we’re already repurposing items from previous projects. We have been thinking about the future of our city and our tamariki, so every item is recycled, reusable or both.
Recycled elements:
- Events container – Council owns this so we’re giving it a fresh coat of paint for this project to keep it well maintained. Once no longer needed in Daly Street, it will be relocated and used elsewhere.
- Rubbish bins – We’re reusing bins that have been removed from around the city following upgrades works.
- Basketball hoop – This has been relocated from the Riverbank Car Park and is currently being refurbished by a local business.
- Granite blocks and concrete blocks – These are left-over from previous projects around our city and will be used as seating at Daly Street.
- Seating – This was removed for the Wainuiomata Town Centre upgrade and has been refurbished to be used at Daly Street.
Reusable elements:
- Pump track – This is modular and will be relocated to one of our parks or reserves after Daly Street.
- Moveable planters, including an accessible planter - These have been designed by a local business to be easily maintained and moveable.
- Communications board (also called a ‘core board’) - A way to talk using pictures so that everyone can be part of a conversation and make the most of the space, Kāpiti Coast District Council has a good explanation about the boards if you want to find out more. At Daly Street we’re trialling our first board in Lower Hutt before moving it to a permanent location in one of our parks or reserves.
- Stage – This is made up of multiple moveable platform seats that can be given new homes around our city – individually or together.
- Bike racks – These are a design we use across our city and are being made by a local business, after this project they will be relocated to a new home.
Through repurposing elements from previous projects, we're on track with our budget of $300k for activating the Daly Street site to support community use and enjoyment.
Get in contact
Got questions about the project or ideas for activating the site? You can contact us at dalystreet@huttcity.govt.nz