Kamo's planning rules get new focus

Nick Williamson is looking forward to changes in the village. Photo / John Stone

Kamo's plan for a spruce-up is ready for action after 16 months of planning and community involvement.

The plan for Kamo became operative last week, as it rounded the end of its hearing process and the final decision was made to give the project the green light.

The driving force behind the proposed plan was the Kamo Place Race, a project created by the district planning team at Whangarei District Council, to create community involvement in decisions made to revitalise the village.

Former project leader Nick Williamson began the project as an employee of the council when he realised the lack of communication between the community and the council.

"The people of the community were not being represented," he said.

His vision for the Kamo Race Place was to combine reality TV and the local government process.

"Government processes are as interesting as watching paint dry - which people tune in to and watch every week on TV with reality shows."

He decided to change the dynamic, and cram six months' worth of discussion and debate into a five-day consultation process.

Nina Murphy, a policy planner at the council, said the zoning and rules for Kamo had changed.

There was now a new zone named the Kamo Walkability Environment where there would be a focus on the pedestrian flow around Kamo shopping routes and frequently-used walking routes.

The village will be sectioned into three precincts - the Kamo Activity Precinct which is a mixed-use business precinct, and two residential precincts (medium and low density).

Mr Williamson said the community wanted the Kamo Activity Precinct to be a shared space for pedestrians and vehicles. The shops would be more inviting and appealing, with limited parking spaces in front of shops to encourage people to wander around more. He said the focus of the plan change was on people.

"The most satisfying thing about this project was the rules were designed by people for the people."

Ms Murphy said the plan change process was speeded up as a result of the Kamo Place Race.

"One year from notification to operative date is fast for a plan change under the Resource Management Act 1991," she said. It was the first time the council had used social media as part of their consultation process.

"In effect nothing will change, until people or businesses want to develop properties, then the development will be considered under the new zones and rules."

The Kamo Place Race won the 2014 Web and Digital Award for Best Use of Social Media at the Association of Local Government Information Management in May last year.