Castlecliff work to begin in November

Jamie Waugh

Work on the Rangiora St gateway to Castlecliff Beach will be the first physical sign of the suburb's rejuvenation.

Paving, planting and work to move power lines underground will begin on Rangiora St in November and should be completed by Christmas.

A meeting was held at Castlecliff School on Tuesday night to update the community on the Castlecliff Rejuvenation Project.

The project, led by Progress Castlecliff, has been in planning stages for nearly a year as public input has been sought over a series of meetings.

Progress Castlecliff's Jamie Waugh said the community's ideas were now coming to fruition.

A new cafe, The Citadel, will open on November 16 - 50 years to the day after the building on Rangiora St was completed.

A website for the suburb has also been launched while the first quarterly Castlecliff News newsletter was distributed last week.

"It's just about linking and keeping everyone informed about what's going on and keeping that cohesiveness of community spirit," Mr Waugh said.

"But Rangiora St is the first physical changes.

"It's very exciting that we've actually got physical changes happening on the ground."

Whanganui District Council and several other organisations are doing the work.

Progress Castlecliff had been working closely with the Whanganui District Council and there was a question from the floor about how a change of council after October's election would impact progress.

"I think it's a no brainer, so as far as I'm concerned, that Whanganui needs to support Castlecliff," Mr Waugh said.

"We've got this fantastic beachside community and I think any sensible council would support that. We've got the ears of council officers as well."

The new Castlecliff website can be found at www.castlecliff.nz