Bay Harbour: May 18, 2016

PAGE 4 BAY HARBOUR
Wednesday May 18 2016
your local Views
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Home at last!
SOAP
BOX
Lyttelton
Primary School
principal Diana
Feary says
the school’s
merger and the
building of new
premises were
challenging and
exciting.
Lyttelton Primary School is
two years old. We are at home
at last, and we love it! Our first
two years have been a time of
challenge, turmoil, excitement
and adventure.
Challenges include building
a school culture and sense of
belonging over two sites. Our
children and staff soon became
a feature of the Lyttelton landscape
as we walked between
the town site and the hill site in
our bright orange vests to spend
time learning about each other.
Developing a shared vision
with staff who had not worked
together encouraged us to explore
quality professional learning
development opportunities.
Our staff trip to Melbourne last
July to observe collaborative
teaching and learning in seven
schools was critical in developing
the collaborative practice
evident in our learning areas.
Plans for our new school were
drawn up after community consultation
in 2013. What turmoil
when we learned at the end of
2014 that the resultant design
would be shelved and a new
architect would have new plans
completed by the end of January.
What did emerge was a design
that teachers were excited about
as they saw great potential in the
internal layout and the scope of
the learning areas.
This has been an amazing
opportunity for us to explore
and develop collaborative and
co-teaching practices as we
prepared for our new place.
Staff worked together to build
a sense of belonging guided by
restorative practice. Innovative
furnishings are a feature and
came from our inquiries. And
we determined our logo, Te
Wheke, with its characteristics
of curiosity and intelligence
a perfect embodiment of our
adventurous spirit.
We are two years old. We are
at home at last, and we love it!
•Ruth Dyson column, p18
Bay Harbour News asked its
readers what they thought
about the St Andrews Hill and
Bridle Path Rds intersection,
after a city council report
criticised its layout.
• Don Burns, of Mt
Pleasant:
Thanks for your
article, it raised issues
that I’ve been concerned
about from the day the
bridge was opened.
What I would like to
know is why the safety
audit did not pick up on the safety
issues, and why the designers
did not foresee the glaring
problems of the design?
Why are the footpaths almost
4m wide when the pedestrian
traffic is probably about 10 a
day when the vehicle traffic
is 30,000/day? I’m sure most
people would prefer four lanes, a
narrow footpath and a cycle lane.
Why didn’t the engineers
consider a merging lane coming
from St Andrews Hill Rd? As a
resident of Mt Pleasant, driving
through St Andrews Hill Rd and
Bridle Path Rd several times a day,
I have to consider drivers coming
from the east turning into Bridle
Path Rd, traffic turning right from
the bridge onto Bridle Path Rd
and vehicles on my left who either
want to turn left or right.
I do not think we need more
traffic lights, there’s already
too many around the city. I do
think people should be held to
account, this roading system
has been poorly designed and
whoever is responsible should be
explaining why this occurred.
• Denny Anker, of
Mt Pleasant:
In response to your question
about this intersection, my safety
concerns compelled me to give
up trying to cross the intersection
from St Andrews Hill Rd very
soon after it was completed.
My alternative involves the
circuitous and time-consuming
route down Cannon Hill
Crescent to Bridle Path Rd.
In spite of the inconvenience,
I would still prefer to do that
rather than attempt to use the
intersection as it currently is.
It is fortunate for me that I am
only rarely travelling here at
peak traffic times.
I will be relieved when work
on Mt Pleasant Rd allows for
uphill traffic so that I won’t have
to use this intersection at all. I
understand concerned residents/
users made submissions at the
time of construction which were
obviously ignored, as so often
happens.
• Frances and David Wall,
of Mt Pleasant
In response to your article
in Bay Harbour News on the
Bridle Path Rd/St Andrews
Hill Rd intersection, we add
our voices to those who find
it a difficult and peculiar
layout.
The main problem that we
have experienced is the right
turn from the bottom of St
Andrews Hill Rd, swinging
across two lanes to turn sharply
right into Bridle Path Rd, before
the left turn onto the Ferrymead
Bridge. It’s always a moment of
anxiety at the bottom of the hill
waiting until there is space in
the queue for the left-turn light
off Bridle Path Rd while at the
same time giving way to traffic
turning from Main Rd, and
hoping to goodness that nothing
comes swooshing down Bridle
Path Rd before you can slot into
the far (left-hand) lane.
It’s not so bad on a bicycle – if
you get caught out in the middle
(of Bridle Path Rd) there is room
to pause, but in a vehicle you
partly block the traffic, and as
for buses, it’s impossible.
A solution could be lights
at the bottom of St Andrews
Hill Rd co-ordinated with
lights further back from the
intersection on Bridle Path Rd.
•Little River speed letter, p18
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