COUNCIL FEEDBACK

Waihi's banners are back in action following last week's HC Post story. We spoke to the Hauraki District Council for comment and received the following:

What initiatives is the Hauraki District Council doing to maintain the Waihi streetscape?

Our crews provide regular maintenance of the main street gardens, Martha Court and Wallnutt Park. They also sweep the kerbs and footpaths weekly, and wash them twice a year. Other maintenance includes annual flower bed planting and tree trimming, with additional maintenance and support provided at the time of public events like the Beach Hop Warm Up party. Our councillors have worked with local artists to commission murals in the town centre and also with a local business to install a drinking fountain. They're also actively involved with Keep Waihi Beautiful which does some great work to keep the town free of litter and graffiti.

Have any approaches come from the community, including GO Waihi, to get more council support for streetscape improvements?

Last year we attended a number of community events and asked our communities what was important to them about Our Place. We received some feedback about our towns during this engagement. Most of it was generic, such as adding more trees and greenery to our public spaces. There were two comments specifically about streetscape improvements to Waihi town.

Any other comments about streetscapes and maintenance of these?

We're in the process of finalising our Long-term Plan and will be seeking feedback from our communities from March 19 to April 30 about a number of issues, including whether or not there is an appetite to revitalise parts of the Waihi town centre. We hope people will take this opportunity to get involved.