Time to have your say about the Esplanade’s future plans
City officials have hit back at allegations that it does not have a master plan for developing the Victoria Esplanade.
The Palmerston North City Council already has a social media campaign under way asking people what they valued about the reserve, and that feedback would shape future plans, senior planner Jeff Baker said.
He was commenting on a submission from the Esplanade Scenic Railway volunteers to the council’s proposed annual budget that called the council ‘‘negligent’’ for not having a master plan. ‘‘Notwithstanding what they said, we are in the process of doing a master plan,’’ said Baker.
He said an important starting point was to understand what people liked about the Esplanade, with a social media campaign under way to do that.
Baker said much of the enthusiasm so far had centred on the playground and the railway. The campaign would run until the end of May and then council staff would start meeting about 30 different groups that had close associations with the Esplanade. After that, planning would begin in earnest, with a goal of having a plan drawn up within 12 months.
There were likely issues about access and parking, improving areas of native bush and possibly achieving more consistent themes and branding through the park. The railway group had been particularly critical about the condition of a pathway and steps from its car park down to the Manawatu Riverside shared pathway that had been earmarked as a possible link to the planned He Ara Kotahi cycle and pedestrian bridge.
Baker said where the planning project identified ‘‘quick wins’’ or obvious maintenance issues, there would be scope for those to be given priority.