Taupō's Tongariro St takes shape as outdoor areas approved

The new outdoor area at Cafe Ninety Nine. Photo / David Beck

The Tongariro St development is set to be finished in time for the summer rush and adding to the vibrant look will be six new outdoor areas.

It is the light at the end of what feels like a long tunnel for some of the business owners who have dealt with road closures on top of the stresses caused by Covid-19.

Last week, the Taupō District Council's Reserves and Roading Committee approved licences to occupy outdoor areas for six businesses on the street.

Loftus Thai Restaurant, Crafty Trout Brewing Co, Victoria's Cafe, Cafe Ninety Nine, Best Kebabs and Bodyfuel Cafe will have paved areas outside their premises for additional seating.

A report prepared for the reserves and roading committee by transport engineer Jacob Kuchlein says the idea for outdoor areas first came up early in the design phase of the Taupō Town Centre Transformation (TTCT) project when affected businesses were engaged with to "determine their needs and desires".

The different areas will include a combination of windbreaks, umbrellas and roofed structures, some of which have since been installed.

A cross-section of how Tongariro St will look when construction is complete. Photo / TDC

Taupō District Council landscape architect Fraser Scott says the outdoor areas are all about creating opportunities for businesses to maximise the outdoor vibrancy of the street.

"That has a flow-on effect for the town too. This section of the project is about creating really good connections to the domain, providing additional parking and outdoor opportunities and experiences.

"We work with the businesses to understand their needs, but we are working with a theme for the whole project. We've settled on a detailed design but we're working with those businesses as much as we can."

Fraser understands there has been some "short-term pain" for businesses on the street with the road being closed at times during construction.

"They've been great, that short-term pain is tough and we're acutely aware of it during Covid, but the numbers tell you the long-term benefits will be clearly worth it. Every other town or city that has done it, the benefits easily outweigh the pain in the long-term, but we do understand it is really tough in the short-term."

Taupō District Council landscape architect Fraser Scott checks out one of the new outdoor areas on Tongariro St. Photo / David Beck

Crafty Trout Brewing Co owner Rebecca Draper says she is looking forward to Tongariro St being completed.

She says the outdoor area will help make her business more visible to customers.

"It will have a huge impact for us because most people walking down the street don't know we exist because our restaurant's upstairs.

"The added seating and outdoor dining mean people will be able to see us more easily. We definitely need [Tongariro St] opened up as soon as possible."

Bodyfuel Cafe owner Bo Chea says the outdoor area outside his business will allow him to have more tables and therefore seat more customers.

"Now people can enjoy the sun and especially with Covid, a lot of people prefer sitting outside. The street looks fine to me, but when it was still under construction it was hard for us, opening and closing the road all the time affected us really badly because Covid hit at the same time.

"Hopefully it will be better now and having more car parks is good, it might bring more people to this side of town."

The council expects construction and road closures on Tongariro St to be completed by the end of this week with the finishing touches done in the second week of December.