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Island Bay village upgrades

We're upgrading the public spaces and look and feel of the Island Bay shopping centre along The Parade.

Project updates

November 2024

The upgrade to Island Bay village is complete. 

The updates were designed to make the area safer, more accessible, and to support the local businesses and community spaces we all love.  

New kōwhai trees and native plants are now dotted around the shopping area, providing shade and greenery. This not only creates a more inviting space but also encourages tūī and other native birds to visit. 

Wider, smoother footpaths now make it easier to get around, whether you’re pushing a pram, using a wheelchair, or simply out for a stroll. This also designates more space for businesses to spill out onto the footpath in the furniture area, as visible with Blue Belle Café, and further towards Floyd’s Café, while ensuring a clear, safe pathway for all pedestrians. 

New murals and historic references have also been tied into the upgrades. Created with help from local artists, working groups, historical society and schools, they include scenes of boats in the harbour, historic tram tracks, Paekwakawa awa signage, pavers with quotes and kōrero about the area’s history, bringing culture and colour to Island Bay. A couple more small items soon to come.  

The north/south bike lane is now complete, keeping cyclists and pedestrians separate to make moving through the area safer for everyone. 

We’ve converted some long-term parking into P60 spaces to boost visitor access for local businesses. Previously, many of these spaces could be taken up by all-day parking, meaning fewer spaces for people coming into shop, eat, or visit. With these changes, we’re making sure parking is available when you need it and supporting a healthy turnover for local shops.

About the project

The aim of the village upgrade is to improve access, increase safety, and strengthen the suburb's special identity. Funding for the project was approved in our Long-Term Plan 2021-2031.

The village upgrade project covers the main shopping area in conjunction with the  Parade Safety Improvements project that looks at creating a separate cycle lane and road markings. These two projects will be delivered together.

Working with people who live and run businesses in the area, we developed a concept design that will:

  • prioritise pedestrians
  • strengthen the identity and special character of Island Bay village
  • improve safety and accessibility
  • provide more attractive and functional spaces for community activity
  • resurface footpaths and improve the lighting
  • upgrade stormwater infrastructure to accommodate changes in road and footpath levels.
Map showing the scope of the Island Bay village upgrade, centered around Avon Street, Medway Street, Clyde Street, and the Library.
Area included in the scope of the project

Project scope

The scope of work includes improvements to the area’s environment, bike network, lighting, public spaces, heritage, and parking. This includes resurfacing the footpaths and crossings to improve accessibility and safety, creating appealing places to stop and rest with new seating options, installing new bins and bike racks, and creating more space for businesses where people can sit and relax.

The project construction schedule will happen as a series of works starting from Avon Street to the south at the library.

Island Bay village upgrades annotated concept plan (14MB PDF)

Island Bay village upgrades parking plan (1.18MB PDF)

Design plan

To improve access and safety, and accentuate the suburb's coastal location, the new design elements include:

Environment: Garden beds with native coastal plants and grasses, and raised planter boxes.

Lighting: New lighting in the pedestrian laneway between The Parade and Clyde Street, up lights to make a feature of the trees and seats.

Public spaces: Resurface footpaths to improve accessibility and safety, create appealing places to stop and rest with new benches and bespoke site-specific seats, install new bins and bike racks, and create more space for businesses where people can sit and relax.

Arts and heritage: Include stories and quotes that reflect the area's history in surfaces and signs, and have local artists develop murals on the public toilets and in the laneway between The Parade and Clyde Street.

Outside Island Bay Library: Upgrade the outdoor space so it is more appealing and accessible, create a place where people can stop and sit, and make some changes that will appeal to children.

Parking: Relocate existing carparks and convert the four car parks on Avon Street converted to P60. This will increase the number of carparks in the town centre from 50 to 54 P60 parks, plus 3 accessible parks and 2 taxi parks within 2-5 minutes walking from the main shopping area.

Bike lane connection

The changes planned on The Parade through the main shopping centre have been designed to cohesively link and complement the bike lane improvements that have been completed.

The design has a marked path that will connect with the lanes north and south of the shops for people who want to safely and slowly bike or scoot into or through the shopping centre.

Together, these changes will allow people of all ages and abilities to ride more safely all the way along The Parade if they want to. They will also make it clear where people should ride or expect to see bikes, and where pedestrians have priority.

For detailed information, and history on the safety improvements project please visit The Parade – Transport Projects.

Island Bay mural paintings

As part of these works, we are livening up Island Bay with murals.

Experienced local muralist Gina Kiel painted the public wharepaku on the corner of The Parade and Medway Street in the first stage of these works.

For more information on this mural read the Our Wellington story: Mural brings colourful vibes to Island Bay parade.

Local artist Greta Menzies also painted a colourful mural, with the help from senior students at sland Bay Primary and St Francis de Sales for a laneway connecting their schools, between The Parade and Clyde Street. Read the Our Wellington story: Mural brings students' imagination to life in Island Bay.

Contact us

JFC are the contractor responsible for the works.

If you have any questions or concerns about the project or want to get in touch with our Urban Design team, email psd.islandbay@wcc.govt.nz.