Our temporary site at Te Hopunga Hapori i Daly Street has been an incredible opportunity to collaborate with community groups who call our city centre home.
The Urban Design team reached out to Mash Trust Living Plus as plans were being made for the temporary site, as part of conversations with all Daly Street neighbours, seeing how everyone could work together to ensure the work would be a valuable addition to the area for its life-time.
Mash Trust has a site based just next to Daly Street, where people living with disabilities can come together to have a great day. It’s all about having fun, learning new life skills, and spending time with awesome people.
Jo from Mash Trust says, “we invited the team to meet our MASH whānau and over the next few months, and after many meetings, they got to know everyone, made friends and really listened to what was important for people living with disabilities.”
Features that have been included at Daly Street in collaboration with the local disability community including Mash Trust include:
- Wheel-chair accessible planters.
- A bilingual communication board to support those with communication challenges.
- Wheel-chair accessible picnic tables.
- Seating throughout the space with armrests.
Jo and the team from Mash Trust are grateful for the newly expanded area near their base and plan to use the space every day as an extension of their service. “A special thanks to the wonderful team for taking the time to come to get to know everyone, listen to their voices, and truly see the value in full disability inclusion. Your kindness and respect made a real impact.”
To celebrate the journey together, Council welcomed staff and people supported by Mash Trust to join them before the community launch in April to commemorate everyone’s mahi. We celebrated with cake made by clients from Mash Trust and a special ribbon cutting to officially open up the wheel-chair planters.
The new planters got tested right away as everyone pitched in to get plants in the ground, ready for the community launch. Plants in the southern end of Daly Street have been chosen to create a sensory garden with Mash Trust taking ownership of tending to the garden. The communications board has also been located at the southern end by the garden. It’s a first for Lower Hutt and has been an instant hit.
If you see Mash Trust working in the sensory gardens or enjoying the new community space, they welcome you to stop by and say hi.