Clive, Whakatu consider future

LAWRENCE GULLERY
Clive and Whakatu people are having their say about what they want for their community.
Hastings District Council's community development planner, Liz Bell, and independent research and planning consultant Stella Morgan have been meeting representatives from the two communities to help prepare draft plans, which will be presented to the council over the next couple of months.
Miss Bell said similar 10-year plans for Camberley and Flaxmere released earlier this year had prompted Clive and Whakatu people to begin working on plans for themselves.
She said environmental and traffic safety were two issues which headlined the concerns of people in Whakatu.
"We're looking at how residents and the industries in Whakatu can work alongside each other," Miss Bell said.
"They [Whakatu people] are also looking at some beautification of the area, perhaps something that denotes Whakatu. People [in Clive] also want to utilise the river and its recreational and environmental value," she said.
Research and planning consultant Stella Morgan, of Napier, said people in Clive identified increased traffic flow through the town as a major concern.
While traffic was good for local businesses, said Mrs Morgan, many people in Clive wanted motorists to slow down when entering the community to improve pedestrian safety.
"People also wanted to do more promotional work for the town. They are very aware of the position of the town, that it's on State Highway 2 and on the Clive river.
"The river is also semi coastal and a gateway to areas such as Cape Kidnappers and Haumoana that are experiencing growth," she said.
Mrs Morgan said the Clive community had identified the groups it needed to talk to about improving the town and had already held a meeting with the stakeholders, which includes groups such as Transit New Zealand, the council, police and New Zealand Land and Transport Safety Authority.
She said while the community plan dealt with long-term goals, the community was prepared to get into some short-term issues immediately.
"For example ... information-sharing and getting info back to the community. There may be a need to have a community newsletter or a community database linking in with existing groups.
"There's a real opportunity to get a Clive focus group operating, something that the community can use as a lobby group," Mrs Morgan said.
The Clive Community Draft Plan will go to the council for consideration in May while the Whakatu Community Draft Plan will be handed into the council in July.