The latest version of the revitalisation plans for the Taumarunui town centre have received an overwhelmingly positive response.

The plans that incorporate the input of the community working group were presented to local Iwi, the Ward Committee and the public last Thursday (21 June).

Over 50 people took the opportunity to drop by a display of the new plans on Hakiaha St and another 20 attended a presentation in the Council Chambers in the evening.

Ruapehu Mayor Don Cameron said that the positive response from the community to the plans was a major step forward in Taumarunui’s revitalisation journey.

“We now have the community mandate to progress to the next stage and move from design to building,” he said.

“Council would like to thank the community working group and everyone else who has taken the time to engage with the plan development process up until now.

The plans that were unveiled last week represent a lot of hard work from a lot of people over an extended period of time.

The pace and direction of township revitalisation is being driven by the individual townships and since the first set of concept plans were unveiled in December 2016 the residents of Taumarunui have demonstrated that they have been keen to engage with the process and have their say.

Comment on the plans highlighted that people felt that they have successfully provided the opportunity to tell Taumarunui’s individual stories in a space where the community can come together and that will encourage travellers to stop.

Taumarunui-Ohura Ward Committee Chair Karen Ngatai added that although conversations around the details are still on-going there is now agreement on the main design concepts and direction.

“The plans will now go to the Ward Committee meeting on Thursday (28 June) this week for formal adoption.

The consultants helping us with the project will be working with the Ward Committee to break the overall plan into smaller projects that can be prioritised and costed and then put on a timeline for development.

The Ward Committee will also be looking at how we can source alternative funding sources for different parts of the project so that all the cost does not fall on ratepayers,” said Mrs Ngatai.

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