Push to improve Rewi St safety

Community-driven initiatives aim to enhance safety and accessibility in Te Awamutu

The first community board meeting got off to a great start, with some positive items on our agenda. It was also nice to have a couple of members of our community join us in person.

As an item we had raised in the past, we were delighted to see the proposed plans for safer crossings and footpaths on Rewi St by the skatepark and up by the railway bridge. This included widening the footpath and putting in a crossing by the carpark to Centennial Park as well widening the exit from Station Rd so vehicles had improved visibility to cross that intersection, improving the pedestrian access across the railway bridge and adding a second crossing on the west side of that bridge. There is no set date yet for this work to start but things are in motion so we hope it will not be far away as, currently, this is a difficult piece of road for families to cross.

The battery recycling station at Pak’nSave has proven to be very popular and, although we were almost out of funding, we agreed to provide a further $1000 to keep this going for free. We hope to secure a sponsor to support this popular initiative. We are currently averaging between 60-80kg of batteries per month.

We were also provided with a proposal to place a pou on Mutu St opposite the entrance to the Te Awamutu Memorial Park to represent the Kaipaka Pā, which was located at the end of Christie Ave. The pou will have some signage and a QR code so people can learn more about the history of Ngāti Hinetu’s former home. This site provides an opportunity for more people to see the pou and provides safe parking nearby. The pou is being provided by Ngāti Apakura and is one of seven that will be installed along the Mt

Pirongia to Maungatautari ecological corridor. The community board looks forward to seeing this artwork completed. An update on the Te Awamutu heritage signs project came from the museum staff. They have been working on heritage interpretation guidelines, complete with a form to ensure consistency with any heritage signs before any work is undertaken. The possibility of the missing, damaged and aged Te Awamutu heritage signs being replaced in the meantime is negligible and there is no funding available in the current 21-31 long-term plan. We inquired if the community board could do some interim signage so we can get our stories back where people can see them. Unfortunately, this too was not possible until the heritage interpretation guidelines were completed and approved.

The Memorial Park Resolution went to the strategic policy and planning meeting on Tuesday and, despite asking for a complete review, the community board supported Staff’s Option 2. At this time, we believe this is the best option, being one that will not cost our ratepayers anywhere near what a full review will and hopefully will have similar outcomes with interested parties (stakeholders and mana whenua) having a say in the detailed plans as they roll out over the coming years.

We are having a Clean Up Te Awamutu Day on Sunday, March 17, starting at 8.30am and going through to 11.30am, followed by light refreshments. “Many hands make light work”, so we are hoping many members of the community will turn out to assist community board members pick up rubbish around our parks and streets. Bring your gloves and a bag or we will supply them to pick up all the litter. Hope you can join us to keep our town looking great!

Our next community board meeting will be on Wednesday, March 27, at 6pm in the Council Chambers, Bank St. All welcome.

Please contact any of the members if you have a topic you would like to discuss with them or bring to the community board table.