Rehash of plan

I attended a council workshop on December 5 and found it to be a very disappointing experience. One young lady even asked the councillors why they had not taken the trouble to let the rest of us hear what they were saying. The CEO didn’t use his microphone at all. Fairly obviously council wants to go ahead with its bid to occupy Tongariro Domain. Thinking inside the square or in this case the domain. No fresh ideas at all just a rehash of an older plan that the community disliked.

While I sat, my mind drifted north to Rotorua’s Te Puia cultural exhibit. It is in just the right place, Rotorua’s southern gateway, it pulses with tourist activity. Taupo¯ has a potential gateway like that, the one at the Taupo¯ Napier road roundabout and part of the East Urban Lands. A location for a cultural centre that might do a lot to enliven both Taupo¯ and the EUL. The EUL is an asset that council has neglected for many years, even though it purchased it and promised to sell it to alleviate debt.

As for the domain project, car parking is such an obvious problem in the CBD that council is looking for 135 or so extra spaces in order to make its dream work. All of Tongariro St has 92 spaces at present, Heuheu St 76 and Horomatangi St 83 out to Ruapehu. See the problem?

Why not keep the well-functioning office next to the post office? Move the council chambers to County Ave or even perhaps out with a new cultural centre to the EUL. The community still dislikes the old on the domain thinking as demonstrated by the definite NO to the consultants’ directive to choose one of council’s wish list sites there.

It is an unfortunate aspect of local government that people can tend to register lack of approval by doing nothing. The 6000 are probably still out there but taking the view that council won’t listen so don’t bother protesting. Even so enough have made it clear to council and hopefully the minister that no very likely still means no!

I W WALKER