Dunedin's heritage warehouse precinct would be transformed into a bustling hive of markets, public spaces and trams if ideas from a planning initiative take hold.
The Dunedin City Council has released a summary of ideas for the area - stretching from Queens Gardens south to Police St - flowing from public workshops in June that attracted about 110 people.
The work was part of the council's overarching central city planning, and the results showed an area lined with spaces for markets, public art, small parks and plantings, new lighting and paving, and new cycle and bus routes.
It also envisaged improved links for pedestrians and cyclists to the Octagon, a bridge linking the area to the waterfront and space for trams or a cable car.
The plan also envisaged the area ringed by calmer traffic, with Cumberland and Crawford Sts converted to two-way roads, despite a setback obtaining New Zealand Transport Agency funding for the work.
Council heritage policy planner Glen Hazelton said the ideas were a summary, but would be prioritised into a more detailed plan to be released for further public consultation by November.
The council had budgeted $500,000 for streetscape improvements in the area in 2012-13, and the plan would include those projects able to start immediately and be completed by June next year, he said.
Council staff would meet today to discuss the prioritisation of projects, and councillors would have their say on October 23, he said.
It was too soon to say exactly what would be included in the first stage of improvements, but the council was trying to focus on initiatives that helped foster growth in areas the private sector was already involved in, he said.
The "uncertainty" caused by delays obtaining NZTA funding to convert Cumberland and Crawford Sts into two-way routes meant that aspect of the precinct plan was unlikely to be included in the initial work, he said.
The need for a pedestrian bridge - shelved by the council last year - had resurfaced in the workshops, he said.
"That connection to the harbour is still something that came through strongly," he said.
One of the June workshops had been attended by building owners, residents and businesses based in the area, the second was open to the general public, and the council also held "targeted" meetings with stakeholders, he said.
The results generated showed "a surprising amount" of similarity of ideas, but work - like budgets - would need to be considered in stages.
A detailed design for the first batch of improvements was expected to be ready by early next year, he said.
