A new year brings a new title: The Greater New Brighton Leadership Group is now the Greater New Brighton Community Trust.
The change has been made to streamline processes for the Village Green project – a revamp of the New Brighton mall, set to be behind the Pierside building on Marine Pde.
Trust advisor and treasurer Neil Cooper said becoming a trust will provide protection to the trustees and allow it to engage contractors directly, rather than having to work through a third party.
“It is administrative action to provide a more efficient decision-making structure,” he said.
“I am super excited, in 2025/2026 (we) will really see a huge change in the mall.”
The trust is in the process of contracting an architect to draft a tender document for the Village Green, which will go to the city council for approval in February.
From there, decisions will be made as to what can be developed within the available budget of $2.5 million, funded with help from the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust.
Meetings will then be held to inform the local community.
“We’re finally at the stage where we can start looking at building. We are absolutely committed to bringing the mall back up, we never promised anything we could not deliver on,” Klenner said.
“I’ve been part of this since day one, put my heart and soul into it – we believe in this community.”
Both Cooper and Klenner said there has been resounding support from residents to make it an essential place in Brighton.
Being ready for next summer was close to Klenner’s heart.
Her “personal goal” was to see bands performing at the Village Green next summer.
“We want to do right by our community and the community deserves the project to make a long-term difference.”
