Kuripuni developer seeks $500,000 from ratepayers

Masterton builder Dave Borman, who has come up with an ambitious plan to upgrade the Kuripuni village at the south end of Masterton's business district, presented his ideas to the Masterton District Council yesterday, and put his hand out asking for $500,000 from the local body.
Councillors responded by saying it was "positively interested" and would seek more information for discussion at meetings next month.
The money required would be for closing off and paving part of the street, moving the public toilets from the middle of the road and replacing them with a paved area available for street theatre or cafe seating, new lighting, and the creation of a park behind the shops next to lower Dixon Street.
For this park Mr Borman already has a gazebo he's happy to donate, and has offered to build a bridge over the stream. He also suggested public toilets could be built there.
Once two Victorian-era houses purchased from Oriental Parade and Vivian Street in Wellington are added to the shopping centre early next week, Mr Borman will own around half of the buildings there.
Yesterday, accompanied by two representatives from the Wellington-based consulting firm, Boffa Miskell and a visual display of how he'd like to see the Kuripuni centre look, Mr Borman told councillors all up around $3 million would have been spent on upgrading the area, of which $2 million was from himself.
The rest was from the Masterton Licensing Trust's $500,000 upgrade of the Kuripuni Tavern and renovations being carried out by other building owners in the vicinity.
Mr Borman said he wanted the council to provide $500,000 to complete the project. He said he had also had offers from businesses to donate things such as outdoor seating.
Mr Borman's presentation was at 2.30pm and an hour into it, some councillors were so interested in the concept that they wanted a site visit then and there.
Councillors Bruce Bishop, Jane Terpstra, Judith Callaghan and Garry Daniell took up the call and joined Mr Borman and the Boffa Miskell landscape architects, Boyden Evans and Bruno Gilmour at the shopping centre.
Mr Borman told councillors he was prompted to do something at Kuripuni himself after attending the council-inspired meeting earlier this year in the Frank Cody Lounge where a series of architects presented ideas of how to upgrade Masterton's town centre.
"I have owned several buildings in Kuripuni for six to eight months and have finished The Countryman restaurant there. I wanted the input from professionals such as Boffa Miskell and I knew I was jumping the gun by going to the firm instead of the council, but I wanted to get things rolling," he told the council yesterday.
"Kuripuni itself is on a roll. I've had approaches from people wanting to open restaurants, just this week there was an enquiry about an ice cream parlour.
"The Trust Lands Trust is updating its premises where the old Lotto shop was, and the bakery owners are looking at splitting their premises in two."
For the two old houses coming from Wellington Mr Borman already has people wanting them for selling antiques, and the other as an English-style pub.
Masterton district councillors re-assembled in the council chambers for their monthly meeting and towards the end of the meeting, Garry Daniell called for Mr Borman's proposal to be discussed "to give Mr Borman some signal of the council's feelings and at least give it some consideration in the December round of meetings".
"I was amazed at the initiative of all the landowners at Kuripuni and I feel it remains with the council to decide if we move the toilets and close off the road," said Mr Daniell.
"I believe it was an exciting concept. Sure it'll benefit him, but he's put a lot of money himself into it already."
Councillor Rod McKenzie said the council had to watch it didn't jump the gun. "The general public out there will say how come he can ask for that. It needs a process, just like everything else."
Councillor Owen Perry said he was all in support of Mr Borman. "If someone wants to stand up and shake things a bit, I'll be totally behind him."
Councillor Judith Callaghan thought Mr Borman's plan was "an exciting thing to alter that end of town and he should be given all the encouragement needed. Nothing ever moves quickly when councils are involved and I think we would do well to support him.