Is time up for the clock?

TIME'S UP? The future of Kaitaia's town clock will be up for discussion next week.

The future of Kaitaia's town clock will be one of the subjects on the agenda at a public meeting called by Te Hiku Community Board next week.

Board chairman Lawrie Atkinson said the clock, on the corner of Commerce Street and Redan Road, had not worked reliably since the Far North District Council vacated its Redan Road service centre in 2012. The service centre had supplied electricity to the clock, and the conversion to a stand-alone power supply had not been successful, and the three faces of the clock regularly showed different times.

"We want to know if the community would like the clock repaired, removed or replaced with a new one," Mr Atkinson said.

"The Kaitaia Lions Club has already suggested replacing it with a large snapper and a tide clock, and the board is keen to hear from anyone who might have other ideas. The clock was a community [Kaitaia Rotary] project in the 1960s, so it is fitting that we seek feedback from the community before making decisions about its future."

The meeting, in the Banquet Room at Te Ahu on Wednesday, starting at 5.30pm, would also be seeking feedback on new plans to upgrade the public toilets in Melba Street, and to create an attractive public space linking the cenotaph reserve and park next to the old Kaitaia Library building.

Those who attended a public meeting in March had not been keen on the initial design, so council staff had gone back to the drawing board and prepared two new landscaping plans for the community's consideration.

The board would also outline proposals for the installation of fences, lights and bollards in Jaycee Park.

"We are pleased that the council agreed to our request to fund security improvements at the park, but we need to know if these will address public safety issues effectively," Mr Atkinson said.