How to make Welcome Bay better - special report

Senior reporter, Bay of Plenty Times·Bay of Plenty Times·

12 May, 2015 07:22 PM3 mins to read

BOGGY UNDERFOOT: Welcome Bay Community Centre board member Antoon Moonen, left, and centre manager Anna Larsen would dearly love the council to drain Owens Park.PHOTO/ANDREW WARNER

A supermarket tops the wish list in a survey of what Welcome Bay needs to make it a better place to live.

Eighty-one people were polled by the Welcome Bay Community Centre at Selwyn Ridge Primary School's gala on Saturday.

Centre manager Anna Larsen said a supermarket topped the list in the category of what amenities were needed. Thirteen people wanted a supermarket - the largest number from responses that also covered the topics of community development and sports and recreation.

View below to see what people in the street think.

She said the desire for a supermarket was not a new issue and had been thwarted by the big chains being unable to find a large enough site.

The 2013 Census showed Welcome Bay was Tauranga's third fastest growth area, with a population of 6159 people.

Ms Larsen estimated that once Ohauiti and Maungatapu were added, the supermarket would service a population of up to 18,000.

Countdown operator Progressive Enterprises said it had identified Welcome Bay as a great site for a supermarket but the challenge was to to find a suitable location with the right zoning. Foodstuffs, which operated Pak 'n Save and New World supermarkets, said its policy was to not comment on particular sites for commercial sensitivity reasons.

Ms Larsen said the real value of the survey was to identify needs that could realistically be addressed, led by the untapped potential of Owens Park behind Welcome Bay Primary School.

"Community development is where the real urgency is, it's the key to getting the community together. The other stuff will come to pass when people realise there is a good community spirit here."

Sport and recreation and community development were different sides of the same coin and developing Owens Park from its current boggy, largely unusable state was high on the community centre's priorities for Welcome Bay.

Community development is where the real urgency is, it's the key to getting the community together.
Anna Larsen

Ms Larsen said many residents had to travel across the other side of town to play sport at a much higher cost than what could be offered on a low-key social basis if Owens Park was improved.

"Stuff that does not cost much and ends up with a sausage sizzle."

There was a lot of hardship in Welcome Bay with areas featuring highly in the social deprivation index.

"We have a lot of working poor," Ms Larsen said

The all-weather artificial field planned for Selwyn Ridge Primary would offer the community good access for sports such as hockey and netball.

She said Waipuna Park was a fantastic active reserve but it was pretty much booked up.

"Owens Park is more accessible for a big chunk of Welcome Bay's population."

Other suggestions that would translate well to Owens Park included an outdoor exercise circuit, more and better playgrounds, a flying fox and a community vegetable garden.

Ms Larsen said a skate park and multi-use hard surface about the size of half a basketball court could also be built to accommodate activities such as 3x3 basketball.

The park had enough room to meet the demand for more festivals and other community events.

The survey also indicated community frustration with having to travel so far to go to Tauranga Intermediate and the colleges.

Ms Larsen said about 500 kids were taking buses to school.

She was disappointed that the suburb's two state primary schools were not made full primaries up to intermediate age.

What would you like to see in Welcome Bay to improve the community?