Greytown's new town centre has come under the spotlight with claims its full potential is not being realised and that there are management shortcomings.
A meeting of Greytown Community Board last night was expected to decide whether a group should be formed to watchdog the running of the centre that arose
from a $1.6 million makeover of the old town hall, and liaise with the community board.
This comes after an informal meeting last month attended by about 15 people from organisations instrumental in the town centre makeover.
Among the issues raised was the belief there appeared to be no accountability or resources within South Wairarapa District Council for the professional management and development of the town centre and that it had been a condition of funding from Greytown District Trust Lands Trust that the council developed a long-term maintenance plan for it.
In a written response to that, council's community services manager Louise Lyster said there had been major spending on community building in the past two years and the "overwhelming majority" of that spending had been on developing Greytown Town Centre.
She said a review of long-term maintenance plans for all community buildings will be linked into a process now under way.
Meantime resources are needed to develop a strategy for future development of the town centre.
Other issues aired at the May meeting were the need for a custodian with specific responsibility for day-to-day management and maintenance.
The council has since agreed to this and has budgeted for staff to do so.
People also want greater public access to the community exhibition and display areas, as weekend visitors often found those areas were only open when the library was open.
It was suggested the town centre could be included on walking tours of Greytown.
Ms Lyster said the layout of the building means access is limited to library hours for security reasons.
Special requests for access could be looked at when a custodian was on duty.
Concern was raised over the storage of archival material at the town centre and the need for its professional management.
There were also concerns raised whether the Wairarapa Library Service was meeting the needs of Greytown people and whether the library and service centre was making the most of the new facilities.
The possibility of forming a Friends of the Library group also surfaced.
Greytown's new town centre has come under the spotlight with claims its full potential is not being realised and that there are management shortcomings.
A meeting of Greytown Community Board last night was expected to decide whether a group should be formed to watchdog the running of the centre that arose
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