Need to put best face forward

STREET APPEAL: A report to the Turangi-Tongariro Community Board has suggested relocating Turangi's i-SIte, WINZ office and council building to improve the town centre.

A proposal to relocate Turangi's i-Site, WINZ and council building to improve ``street appeal to the front of town'' is being considered by the Turangi-Tongariro Community Board.

A report to the community board by consultant Helen Gilbert suggests the option of re-populating the Turangi mall by relocating the i-Site and Taupo District Council service centre into the WINZ building and moving the WINZ services to the council building.

Community board chairman Tong Kingi says nothing is set in stone but is in full support of the ``swap-change''.

``This is all going to tie in with what I think the town revitalisation project is all about.

``One would hope that once it was spruced up it will hopefully have a positive effect on any person that may want to open [a business], or relocate to drive critical mass into the town centre.''

Tong says something needs to be done to show visitors the vibrancy of the town.

``[We want] to put our best face forward. With the idea that the info centre does a sterling job for us, they get massive foot traffic, we want to pull that foot traffic in to the mall.''

Turangi's town centre is getting less foot traffic because of the town's declining population, Tong says.

``We are a little bit isolated [so] it's a hard ask to get businesses to come to town, but its not impossible. Nothing's impossible _ it's just a matter of how you present yourself and what you are offering as a market.''

The report states that re-populating the mall would help ``create a town centre buzz''; Tong agrees.
``You see a busy cafe, you go into it; you see an empty cafe you're not going to go into it _ that's the same theory that will apply to the mall.

``[So] what are we going to do about it? Well, at the moment there is probably not a lot we can do other than what we will do on a personal level to encourage people.''

He says it is still just a concept and the smaller details have yet to be looked at, included the cost to perform this task.

``There are all the bits and pieces around where would the buses go, where would the tourists park?

``It is easy access where they are at present and those are things that they still have to go to the forefront with.''

No decisions will be based off the report, it will simply be what is best for Turangi and what works for the I-site employees, he says.

``It's about trying to find a happy medium for everyone. [Though] having our district council and our information centre would be nice to have for the mall community.

``It has certainly been an iconic information centre but I also appreciate what Helen [consultant] is talking about if we had a co-location of the i-Site and the council _ that would absolutely drive people [into town].''

The report says if the proposal were to go ahead it would reduce costs and increase visitor flow.

``At the end of the day if the offering is good and if people love the vibe of the town they're going to stop. I think perhaps over time that will happen,'' Tong says.