Students from Fairhaven School visited the giant map at Te Puke Memorial Hall last week.
Students from Fairhaven School visited the giant map at Te Puke Memorial Hall last week.
Western Bay planners have jazzed up the consultation on a blueprint for Te Puke’s future.
The Te Puke Spatial Plan will set the path for the next 30-50 years.
To help with the process of finding out what people might think, a giant aerial map of the town has been produced.
Last week was the first week of consultation, and students from Fairhaven School visited Te Puke Memorial Hall to get an idea of what spatial planning is, how it might affect their future and, of course, to discover the giant map.
Elliott said he loved the giant map “because I can see all the places I haven’t been to”.
He said the first thing he and most of the other students looked for was their school, then their house and that it was surprising how big the town is.
Kylah would like to see “more fun stuff” to do - suggesting a water park.
In the same vein, Korban said he’d like to have some hot pools in Te Puke and - as a hockey player - a hockey turf.
Sophie said she wanted the town to be a place where no one was judged for what they look like.
She said she would also like Te Puke to have a museum where people could learn about the area.
Avneet said a museum could also be somewhere to share information on the different cultures and history of the many people from different countries who live in Te Puke.
Te Ramanui would like to see more tracks like the Te Ara Kahikatea pathway in Te Puke.
Kaahuia said she thought the town needed a hospital or more medical centres and Te Ramanui would like to see more places where native plants could grow and more tracks like the Te Ara Kahikatea pathway.
Elliott thought more camp sites would be a good idea for people travelling around New Zealand and Sophie thought cabins could be built for people who can’t afford to live in Te Puke because of rent levels.
As the students discussed the plan and the future, they began to appreciate the difficulty involved because of how much about the future is unknown.
Until June 20 staff will be at the memorial hall three days a week. The council’s senior communications and engagement specialist, Rachel McLeod, said the first week of consultation went very well, with students from Fairhaven and Te Puke schools adding to the 100 people who visited last Wednesday.
“On Thursday we had about 25 through over a three-hour period and that’s quite a nice number because it gives us a chance to talk to people and talk about their views and explain the whole spatial plan process to them.
“I think that’s the beauty of them coming in and talking to us and having the big map allows us to explain how a spatial plan works.”
She said staff are able to talk about the factors that will influence how Te Puke grows “with things like the natural hazards map, the highly productive land map and the transport map”.
“It’s a really rewarding process both ways because people get to learn and think about what they want to see in their town in the future.
She says already there has been a good mix of people.
“We are attracting people from different demographic backgrounds so they’ve got different needs. For some people, the focus is protecting native trees, planting more native trees and green spaces, for others, they are thinking about transport and bus shelters.”
She says transport has been one of the big discussion points.
“As the town grows that’s going to be an important focus.”
She says it is important for people to let the council know their views.
Staff will be on hand at the hall until June 20 (Tuesdays 10am-1pm, Wednesdays 12-3pm, Thursdays 2-5pm) with the giant map. They will also be at Te Kete Matariki celebrations on June 28 at Jubilee Park between 10am and 4pm.
