Image showing potential for improved pedestrian comfort, places to relax and the introduction of vegetation into the town centre, Levin. WGP 20Apr18 -
Image showing potential for improved pedestrian comfort, places to relax and the introduction of vegetation into the town centre, Levin. WGP 20Apr18 -
Levin's town centre could look drastically different within a decade, as the district's council moves to consult on a bold new plan to give it a major facelift.
Horowhenua District Council's draft town centre strategy Transforming Taitoko/Levin has just been released, and reveals an entirely new spatial aspect for thetown centre, including removing emphasis on the north-south orientation that currently exists along SH1.
It also proposes what district mayor Michael Feyen has called "some really big ideas" including a ring road around the town centre, making Queen St into a 'green street,' creating a transportation hub and changing the focus of the area.
Many of the properties along Oxford St, the existing main road through Levin, have been identified as priority earthquake-prone buildings, meaning their owners have seven and a half years to carry out safety improvements or demolish them.
This alone will change the character of the area considerably, and now is the right time to address the future of the town centre, the council says.
The proposal identifies the current problems with the town centre being that it sprawls to the north and south, spreading activity and investment out too far and its "anchors" are too far apart and not well connected.
Anchors are main commercial or public sites, including Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po, Focal Point cinema, Levin Aquatic Centre, the Farmers building and New World supermarket.
Oxford St is also "compromised" by heavy traffic, shaded on the west side and is a long street with no "diversity of experience", the draft plan says.
It will also likely be bypassed by the state highway network in the future, has limited public transport options and has a lack of quality offerings in terms of retail, food and beverage, the council says.
Council says large houses on large sections around the town centre will become less common as the need for more efficient land use and greater diversity in living choice drives change.
Mr Feyen said the proposal was not just about growth and the bypass.
"It is also about making our downtown area safer for pedestrians, providing more outdoor areas for people to relax in, managing the burden of earthquake-prone buildings on small retailers and making it easier for everyone to get around," he said.
The draft strategy is being championed by the mayor and two Levin ward councillors who run businesses in Levin - Bernie Wanden and Victoria Kaye-Simmons.
Council strategic planner Lauren Baddock said the draft plan was categorised into six big considerations, which were activating and diversifying the town centre, changing the focus from north-south to east-west, earthquake-prone buildings, the proposed expressway, transportation options and town centre identity.
She said the council needs to hear residents' thoughts on the town they want to live, work, shop, dine and play in.
Public consultation on the draft plan starts on April 26 and runs until 4pm on May 25. It follows on from initial consultation on the town centre carried out in 2016.
Image showing potential for Levin's Queen Street to become a 'green street' (with cycle lanes and street trees) that links the hills to Lake Horowhenua via the town centre.
A pop-up centre about the proposal will be set up in a shipping container in the carpark of Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po which the public are invited to visit.
The consultation document can be found on the council's website, in service centres and at libraries.
