Our Nelson Issue 183
22 November 2023

Ideas for a Bridge Street brew
Beth and Nick Schryvers are co-owners of Victus Café, named Outstanding Café in the recent Nelson hospitality awards, with Nick taking out the Outstanding Barista award. They both worked in the specialty coffee industry before opening Victus in June 2022.
The location of their first business together was key.
 “It was really important to us that the heart of the cafe was based around the concept of building community and bringing people together.”
With the Bridge Street Collective co-working space accessible through the café, and Kirby Lane right next door, the Schryvers’ found the perfect spot with Victus, formerly The Kitchen.
“We absolutely love it when events like the arts festival and Te Ramaroa  bring people into the city,” says Nick. “When events are happening in the city, Nelson has this light that comes out of it and people sparkle.”
Nick observes that it’s not just one-off events that attract people into the city but Nelson’s clever use of space.
“The Nelson Market is a great example of using space flexibly. It’s existing infrastructure, car-parking, that at its core is really boring. But every Saturday, Montgomery Square comes alive and people from all over the world visit this little market. It's just buzzing with people that otherwise wouldn't be right there in the heart of town.”
Nick says there are some neglected buildings and empty shops on Bridge Street, but he’s also seeing the energy that small businesses bring to the precinct.
“One of the things I love about this part of town now is places like Kirby Lane, and the Bridge Street Studio in the old Molly’s building. I think all of these ideas and businesses are slowly chipping away at the old view of this part of town. Getting people in that have a vision to bring something beautiful and creative is key. When there's variety, and when young or startup entrepreneurs get a chance to have a go, it creates more life,” Nick says.
Nick says the pedestrianisation of the top of Trafalgar Street is a case study for what happens when a street is closed off. 
“There was some pushback against it, even from some of the businesses up there. I would've been concerned about it too. But now it's exactly the type of area that I go when I'm in town with the kids because it's safe. There's no cars around and there's a lot of area that the kids can roam free.”
“I think when cities are more fun to be in people are more drawn to them. I know that there's a debate over whether people can drive in and park right outside your door. That's what I grew up with. That was the old Nelson. I think that attitude does need to move.”
Nick acknowledges that loss of car-parking is an aspect that’s always vigorously debated when there is talk of change in the inner city. But for him, it comes down to taking a different perspective.
“As a business owner, of course I’m concerned about where people park. For us, if we did lose all the car parks in front of the cafe, we would lose a large portion of takeaway business, which is huge. But it’s about smart allocation of parking. We don't need two-hour parking for the takeaway business, we need 15 or 30 minute parking. So, you could put some 15 or 30 minute car parks in strategic spots.
“Then I've got staff who can't park in town for the day, not because there's no parking, but because all the parking's so limited on time. We've got businesses up here at the other end of the street that are only open at night. They don't need day parking, so let’s put long-term parking there.”
Nick also has a good idea for keeping businesses ticking over during the upgrade.
“We've got these great lanes that we've just celebrated in Nelson's Four Lanes Festival. If these lanes are tidied up and made more pedestrian friendly, and with good signage so people know that they can get through these lanes to come to Bridge Street, all of those kinds of things would help.
“Nelson already has a stunning environment and art everywhere. We can build on that by encouraging beautiful architecture, interesting retail, a strong hospitality scene and cool green spaces. If we can make Nelson a city that's easier to get around, nicer and greener, that’s a good place to start.”
To read the full version of this story, visit our.nelson.govt.nz.
Tuku 24 Whakatū event hosts needed
Now is the time to put your heritage ideas into action as planning for Tuku 24 Whakatū begins. 
Starting 24 March 2024 and running through to 4 May 2024, the festival offers a range of interesting and exciting events designed to celebrate the unique and diverse heritage of Whakatū.  
Every year, multiple organisations and community groups run their own events throughout Nelson with support from Nelson City Council. Events must have a focus on heritage through stories of people and place and be open to the public. Council is looking for a broad range of event ideas from our vibrant and diverse community - surprise us! 
An information pack, event registration forms and grant application forms are available now on tukuwhakatu.co.nz. The deadline to submit ideas and lodge a grant application is 5pm 8 January 2024.

Bus patronage continues to rise
Patronage for October increased by 6,721 on the previous month, across the entire eBus network. 
The last three months of the former NBus service had patronage of 127,392, while the first three months of eBus had patronage of 218,270, an increase of 71%. 
The Saturday and Sunday services continue to grow, increasing by over 500 journeys since the launch of the eBus service.  The Motueka and Wakefield routes had increases of 45% and 56% respectively.
“It is good to see bus patronage continuing to rise month by month since the launch on 1 August. This reflects the fact that people are liking the new eBuses and increasingly using the service,” says Nelson Mayor Nick Smith.

Mayor Nick achieves Marathon goal
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith has completed the New York City Marathon, fulfilling a long-held personal goal as well as honouring Nelson running legend Rod Dixon, who won the event 40 years ago, and raising funds to support Nelson and Tasman children.
Mayor Nick and his Nelson teammates Lester Binns, Andrew Board and Kim Ngawhika all ran in the Marathon on 5 November as a fundraiser for local schools to deliver Rod Dixon’s KiDSMARATHON programme, which enables the pupils to complete a full marathon of 26.2 miles (42.2km) over 10 weeks.
“My motivation for doing it was partly patriotic, in wanting to honour Rod’s amazing win 40 years ago,” Mayor Nick says. “There’s a big difference between Rod coming first and me getting 35,367th out of 51,338 runners.
“The inspiration came last year when I told Rod that I was travelling to the US for the school reunion from my time as an AFS exchange in 1983 – the same year Rod won the Marathon. He had an allocation of entries in recognition of his win and challenged me to have a go.
“I also took up Rod’s challenge because I am proud of Nelson being the most active region in the country and want to encourage others to run, walk or play a sport such as rugby or bowls to keep healthy.”

Proposed change for Route 3
Route 3 of the eBus network will extend to Toi Toi Street following its removal from Jenner Road. 
The bus will use the roundabout at the intersection of Toi Toi Street and Abraham Heights to loop back around. 
We look forward to welcoming passengers along Toi Toi Street from December 2023 and plans are underway to update the timetable and have bus stops in place. 

Christmas comes to the city
It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas in Nelson as Christmas decorations start to go up around the city and festivities begin.
Nelson City Council’s festive wreaths and banners are being installed this week throughout the central city, just in time for the Christmas tree to take its place on the Christ Church Cathedral steps at the top of Trafalgar Street on Saturday 25 November. The Nelson Santa Parade Trust will host a tree lighting ceremony on Sunday 26 November starting 7.30pm. 
In Tāhunanui, an illuminated star will be placed on top of the Norfolk Pine at the beach and both Tāhunanui and Stoke will have a display of festive street banners. 
Santa will take time out of his Christmas preparations to appear at the NBS Nelson Santa Parade, taking place on Sunday 10 December, starting from Hardy Street and travelling down Trafalgar Street from 1pm-3pm.  
For more details about these, and other events, see itson.co.nz.
Some key festive season dates: 
24 November – 3 January
Festival of Christmas Trees – Christ Church Cathedral 
25 November
Christmas tree installed – Christ Church Cathedral steps
26 November
Christmas tree lighting ceremony and the Christ Church Cathedral’s Festival of Christmas Trees - Church steps and Christ Church Cathedral
10 December
Nelson Santa Parade – Nelson CBD (Rain date: 17 December) 
24 December
Carols on the Steps – Christ Church Cathedral steps, 
Upper Trafalgar Street 

Meetings
Chief Executive Employment Committee meeting 
11am	22 Nov
Audit, Risk and Finance Committee
9am	24 Nov
Civil Defence Emergency Management Group – Emergency Operations Centre, 28 Oxford Street, Richmond
1.30pm	28 Nov
Nelson Regional Sewerage Business Unit
1.30pm	28 Nov
Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit
9.30am	1 Dec
Hearing Panel
1pm	1 Dec
Commissioner Hearing – Plan Change 31 – Rūma Waimārama
9.30am	4 Dec
Council meeting
9am	7 Dec
Regional Pest Management Joint Committee – Tasman District Council Chamber, 189 Queen Street, Richmond
9.30am	8 Dec
Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee - Tasman District Council Chamber, 189 Queen Street, Richmond
9.30am	11 Dec
Council meeting
9am	14 Dec
Changes to meeting
Chief Executive Employment Committee – was previously advertised to take place on 24 November 2023 at 2pm
Cancelled meeting
Joint Shareholders Committee – previously advertised to take place on Friday, 28 November 2023, commencing at 9.30am at Tasman District Council Chamber, has been cancelled due to insufficient business.

For a full list of Council meetings go to:
nelson.govt.nz/meetings