Public keen on town centre revamp

Artist's impression of what Hawera town centre would look like.PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Public interest in the potential plans for the new Hawera town centre has been keen with nearly 400 people at the two open days last week.

South Taranaki District Council project manager, John McKenzie, said he was thrilled with the public response to the strategy which the council and Bizlink Hawera are working on with urban design consultants, Boffa Miskell.

"We had a real cross section of people come through the open days. They all brought with them their own thoughts and ideas and were extremely positive about the project and our plans for transforming the heart of Hawera into a more attractive and vibrant place," Mr McKenzie said.

The people at the open days made it clear that they wanted change to many aspects of the town centre, he said.

"But they can't leave it too long as we need feedback by the end of August."

Several meetings were held over two days at Hawera's Dimocks Furniture store to present options to members of the public.

"The community showed that they do care about their town centre, that they do have some foresight about planning for the future and that they want to be a part of a future plan for Hawera," Mr McKenzie said.

Boffa Miskell urban designer Chris Duffy said he was impressed by the number of people interested in changes.

"The people here have real pride in their town and the area, so it's good getting that local input."

Transforming the "heart of Hawera" into an "attractive and vibrant place to live, work and visit" was the vision of the council, spokesman Gerard Langford said.

The design principles on which the Hawera town centre strategy is based include:

Creating a town centre core.

Have a dedicated civic anchor building as the start of the development.

Quality public green space.

Consider the town's heritage buildings.

Add residential opportunities closer to the town centre.

"Hawera's current town centre was simply not meeting the needs of retailers or residents," Mr Langford said.

"It was essentially developed over 100 years ago and our community's social and retail needs have changed considerably over that time which has been exacerbated by the growing trend in online retail," Mr Langford said.

Population growth and attractiveness of town centres were closely linked, he said.

"We want to build a vibrant and economically sustainable town centre that is a showcase to attract new residents, business and visitors which will provide a big injection of confidence into our retail and service centre and will also give property owners confidence to reinvest in the town.

"This project will provide an opportunity to develop an urban centre we can be proud of for years to come."