Taupo & Turangi Herald

Time for ALL to have a say on domain

- Laurilee McMichael FROM THE EDITOR laurilee.mcmichael@taupoweeke­nder.co.nz

While reading the New Zealand Herald last week, I came across an article which talked about Auckland’s Waterview Tunnel project and the civic works — playing fields, playground­s, skate parks, wetlands and walking and cycling trails — that accompanie­d it. Warren and Mahoney principal architect Shannon Joe talks about how dead-set the citizens of Waterview were against the project. He got booed off the stage at a public meeting. People hated the ideas.

Fast forward to today, and the public areas around the motorway are busy, the design serves the community. The areas are popular and well-used. The entire project is a finalist in the World Architectu­ral Festival awards.

Coincident­ally, Mr Joe, his firm and Boffa Miskell, who also worked on the project, are also working on the master planning for the Tongariro Domain. And once again, a local community — this time, Taupo¯ — is giving them a rough ride.

I’ve been following the feedback, and some of the negativity around the proposal is astounding. What’s really puzzling is so few of the opinions are coming from the younger generation. There has been a lot of talk about car parking and not much about people, and for some reason, a perception that the council wants to hijack the domain for its administra­tion building — “just so council staff can buy coffee in town” was the memorable phrase one woman uttered.

There are understand­able concerns about the eventual cost and the level of debt the council is in. The potential for add-ons and budget blowouts seems large. Taupo¯ District Council is already heavily in debt. But like it or not, it needs to build itself a new home and it has set aside $15.7 million to do so. In my opinion, it would have been remiss to not explore the opportunit­y a new building presented to cast the net a bit wider and consider doing something bold for Taupo¯.

If you’ve ever been to Wellington’s Civic Square, you might be familiar with the concept. A beautiful gathering space, sheltered on all sides, with civic administra­tion on one side, a library and art gallery on the other two and connection to the waterfront on the fourth. Taupo¯ has the opportunit­y to produce something along those lines on a much smaller scale, with carparking and vehicle access included.

If, as is hoped, the money for such a project can be raised via the Provincial Growth Fund, grants, donations, trusts and bequests, surely we should seize the chance.

The master planners have presented four cultural precinct design options for the community’s feedback and your chance to fill out the online survey on those options closes tomorrow. We’re hearing quite a bit from a select few and not much from everybody else. As one person at the public meeting at the Great Lake Centre said to me: “Everybody in that room had grey hair. Where are the young people? Why are we not hearing from them?”

There is a lot of water to go under the bridge to determine if this project should go ahead. This round of consultati­on is simply asking for your feedback on the four design options. It is not a mandate to proceed or not. Look at the options with an open mind and let the council know your thoughts.

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