The New Brighton Centre Master Plan aims to re-establish the centre as the heart of the community and be the key activity centre for the eastern suburbs. A revitalised, vibrant centre will attract people to ‘live, work and play’ in New Brighton.

New Brighton Mall concept

Indicative concept of the Brighton Mall upgrade looking west.

In 2015, the Council asked Development Christchurch Limited (DCL) to undertake the staged implementation of the New Brighton Centre Master Plan.  

Present status of the project information booklet(external link)

Date Actions
April-May 2012
Project set up 		 Earthquake impacts assessed, technical information gathered and key stakeholders identified.
July 2012
Research, information gathering 		 Focus group sessions with key stakeholders and residents held. Community’s values, needs, aspirations and priorities identified.
July 2012
Design & feasibility testing		 Technical expert workshop held to combine and reconcile community’s values, needs, aspirations and priorities.
December 2012
Prepare draft master plan 		 Draft master plan prepared. Approved by Council for public notification.
December 2012-February 2013
Consultation 		 Public consultation held and 317 submissions received.
June 2013-February 2015
Follow up investigations, revisions 		 Submissions analysed. Further investigations, including of economic feasibility of the proposed waterpark concept. Community Advisory Group established to aid master plan completion. Community Board recommendation not to hear submissions endorsed by Council.
March 2015
Adoption		 New Brighton Centre Master Plan adopted by Council.
April 2015 onwards
Implementation 		 Actions implemented by community and Council (capital projects delivered as funding made available).
new brighton artist vision

Artist’s impression showing future vision for the New Brighton Centre.

The New Brighton Master Plan contains a strategic vision to reinvent New Brighton as Christchurch’s eastern playground.

The vision is supported by twenty three goals and four ‘big picture’ themes, which are to be delivered through nineteen detailed implementation actions.

These encourage Council, private sector, community and government-led decision-making to align and move forward together in a logical sequence.

The vision, goals and actions are described in detail on pages 20, 23 and 26 of the New Brighton Centre Master Plan [PDF, 4.1 MB].

Key successes to date include:

  • Transitional projects, including the Tiny Huts
  • The Council instructed Development Christchurch Limited (DCL) to implement the New Brighton Master Plan in 2015, DCL completed a beachside playground in December 2017 and hot salt water pools (named 'He Puna Taimoana') in 2020.
  • Construction of the streetscape update at Marine Parade, between Hawke and Beresford Streets, was completed in 2020. 

To view the corresponding master plan actions, go to page 31 in the New Brighton Centre Master Plan [PDF, 4.1 MB].

ChristchurchNZ is currently responsible for delivering the New Brighton Master Plan. Funding is included in the Council’s Draft 2021-31 Long Term Plan (LTP) to deliver the following projects over the next ten years:

  • ‘New Brighton Public Realm Improvements’ - this includes land acquisition for the proposed ‘Oram Ave road extension’ (A3) and building of the road, the ‘Brighton Mall upgrade’ (A5) and other ‘General streetscape upgrades (A6): e.g. Seaview Road, Beresford Street, Hawke Street, Union Street and Shaw Ave; and
  • ‘A4 Oram Ave open space link’.