Whanganui District councillors heard from submitters Marion Sanson and Sue Kumeroa of Living Wage Whanganui.
Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui District councillors heard from submitters Marion Sanson and Sue Kumeroa of Living Wage Whanganui.
Photo / Bevan Conley
Public hearings to Whanganui District Council's draft long-term plan have wrapped up after almost 80 made in person of the 608 total submissions.
More than 30 submissions were on the Whanganui velodrome and while some supported the option to close the site and decommission the existing track, many submittersspoke in favour of retaining the asset.
John McDonnell had driven from Cambridge to speak to his submission on the velodrome.
"I am from Whanganui and lived here for 56 years," he said.
"In Cambridge, I have seen the numerous benefits a covered velodrome brings to a community."
McDonnell, who is the deputy principal of Cambridge High School, urged the Whanganui District Council to proceed with repairing and roofing the velodrome.
Some local submitters spoke strongly against the velodrome project with some expressing the view that the "horse had bolted" and it was too late for the current council to fix a problem that should have been addressed 20 years ago.
The Whanganui District Council heard almost 80 oral submissions on the long-term plan.
Photo / Bevan Conley
Plans to extend the Whanganui District Library received strong support from submitters and Whanganui author Joan Rosier-Jones said the library had been a "poor cousin" to other assets.
"It is the most used facility and it is substandard in its current condition."
Rosier-Jones said the estimated $1.9 million cost of the library upgrade was modest compared to proposed costs for other assets, and it would benefit more people.
Some submitters expressed the view that as more people are using online services the need for a library extension would not be necessary.
Sir Don McKinnon spoke via video link as chairman of the New Zealand Memorial Museum Trust.
The trust is asking for the council's support to help fund a memorial to Le Quesnoy in northern France where New Zealand soldiers liberated the town from German occupation during WWI.
McKinnon said the trust aimed to build a museum and visitor Centre in Le Quesnoy with a donation equivalent to $1 per resident of the Whanganui District.
"The projects aim is to help us remember those who gave their lives in the World Wars to give us freedom," McKinnon said.
A number of submitters covered a range of topics within their allocated time and McDouall thanked everyone for their courteous discourse.
• Deliberations on LTP submissions will take place later on Tuesday, May 25, and Wednesday, May 26, with the plan scheduled to be adopted on Tuesday, June 22.
