This page is about the 13 finalists in the 2024 Golden Foot Walking Awards.
You can also read about:
- Each of the seven winners - their vision, project and successes.
- The 2024 Golden Foot Walking Awards - purpose, criteria, examples of past winners.
School Project Award Finalists
Supporting Safe, Green and Healthy School Travel for Grantlea Downs School, Timaru by Timaru District Council
Timaru District Council committed investment to improving the safety of walking environments, thus resulting in increased transport choices for the Timaru community.
Infrastructure improvements for Grantlea Downs School community included a raised platform pedestrian crossing and a new roundabout with pedestrian facilities which have been well received by the community. (See photo)
Walking School Buses, Berhampore School and Miramar Central School, Wellington by Wellington City Council
Walking School Bus routes were set up at two schools - Berhampore School and Miramar Central School, within the past year, with help from Wellington City Council.
Wellington City Council (with partners) engaged with students and kaiako to determine the best route, then installed signs and used stencilling to mark the routes.
Both schools are reaping the benefits and have kept up the momentum from this great initiative.
Public Transport and Walking Award Finalists
Paraparaumu Transport Hub by Kāpiti Coast District Council
The Paraparaumu Transport Hub encourages people to use public transport by improving pedestrian experiences around the transport interchange and nearby retail areas.
Kāpiti Coast District Council transformed the district’s CBD by creating plaza spaces which prioritise pedestrians, and provide more direct and safer walking routes with improved public amenity.
Carterton BRT Stop and Park and Ride Project by Metlink and Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC)
Metlink / GWRC responded positively to a request from Carterton District Council Walking and Cycling/Wheels advisory group to improve the walking and wheelchair access at the Carterton Railway station for the bus replacement service.
Walking Champion Award Finalist
Walking Every Street in Greater Dunedin by Julie Woods
Julie Woods, her husband Ron Esplin and her seeing guide Jo Stoddart have been raising awareness about blindness and joy of walking in Otepoti Dunedin for a number of years.
Julie set herself the goal of walking every street in Dunedin and achieved that goal by walking the aptly named Every Street in 2023.
Since then she has expanded her goaland has embarked on walking all the streets in the Greater Dunedin suburbs too. She is an inspiration to all of us with her 'Why not?' approach to life.
Extraordinary Walkers Award Finalist
Northern Southland Walk Group
Northern Southland Walk Group, active for 22 years, has a great variety of walks across Southland, catering for walkers of all ages, gender and fitness.
Friendships, mental health, wellbeing along with new sites and history draw up to 20 people fortnightly, with different leaders taking responsibility. Fun, fitness and friendship celebrated. (See photo.)
Programmes Award Finalist
Waitaha and Te Tai Poutini Healthy Neighbourhoods Community of Practice by Christchurch City Council
In Ōtautahi a transformative spark ignited during a 2022 Healthy Streets training when three local attendees decided to extend its impact beyond the workshop.
They brought together local organisations concerned with transport, health, play, safety and the mental and physical wellbeing of individuals and neighbourhoods with the aim of making streets places where people choose to walk, cycle or play.
A community of practice was formed, guided by the Healthy Streets framework and Neighbourhood Play System blueprint approach.
Place-making Award Finalists
Waimapihi Mural, Garrett Street, Wellington by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa)
The buried stream Waimapihi tracks underground from Aro Valley, through Garrett Street, and out to Wellington Harbour.
Named after Māpihi, a rangatira of Kāti Māmoe and Ngāi Tara, who used to bathe in the awa, mural artist Izzy Joy has honoured the cultural significance of this site.
Joy has daylit the story of the buried stream, painting Māpihi as pou whenua, a wooden carved pole, which were traditionally placed around significant sites and edges of tribal territories, as a marker for the buried awa.
St James Theatre Mural, Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua, Wellington by Keri-Mei Zagrobelna (Te Āti Awa, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) and Tina Rae Carter
The mural is structured around the Waimapihi stream, which leads you from the mouth of the awa (depicted as a literal mouth) out towards the harbour. Within the stream there is a giant tuna (eel), an ancestor.
The artists saw this eel as the taniwha that resided in the Waitangi wetlands. Not only the stream and rich wetland life come from the mouth of the awa but also words and stories, visually portrayed in the mural design that are held and carried orally throughout history. (See photo.)
Urban Connection Award Finalists
Hāwera Town Centre Strategy by South Taranaki District Council
The revitalisation of Hāwera’s town centre began in 2014 when Council approved Hawera's Town Centre Strategy. The town centre lacked public space, including green space, had inadequate public toilets and poor connections between key facilities like High Street shopping areas and car parks.
Key proposals for the town centre's redevelopment were: improved pedestrian and carpark connections; improved lighting to highlight heritage buildings, a new library/cultural/art centre; redevelopment of the town square, a new greenspace; and redesigned traffic flows to encourage better use of the town centre. Many of these are completed or currently underway.
Installation of Many New Raised Crossings, Wellington by Wellington City Council
Wellington City Council has installed 39 raised pedestrian and courtesy crossings in Wellington, improving safety and accessibility for pedestrians.
The new pedestrian infrastructure improves accessibility for all – the old and young, wheelchair users, people who use mobility aids, and parents with pushchairs, ensuring safe passage for everyone.
Featherston Street Safety Improvements Project, Palmerston North by Palmerston North City Council
Palmerston North's Featherston Street project has transformed the environment for walking along one of the city's busiest and most challenging streets.
The Council raised crossings to slow traffic, narrowed the side street intersections and added raised tables to make it safer and more accessible for everyone.
Events Award Finalist
Gumboot Swap, Shirley, Ōtautahi Christchurch by The Shirley Village Project
A Shirley resident realised children were not getting to school during and after rain due to inappropriate footwear and thought up the idea of a Gumboot Swap.
This Gumboot Swap project was supported by the Shirley Village Project and involved four giveaway events where 80 pairs of gumboots were rehomed. (See photo.)