$4.1m earmarked for Masterton CBD

The budget for the road and streetscape, as outlined in the long term plan, is $3.5 million for years 2018-19 with a total budget of $4.1 million.

Masterton District Council has set aside $4.1m to breathe new life in to the town centre from 2018.

Mayor Lyn Patterson said the CBD upgrade will include new street furniture, plantings, artwork, green space and mobility changes.

The budget for the road and streetscape, as outlined in the long term plan, sits at $3.5 million for years 2018-19 with a total budget allowance of $4.1 million for the upgrade.

A council steering group will be formed to develop master plans for the upgrade.

"We've recognised for some time that there is work we need to do for our CBD," Mrs Patterson said.

"We delayed it because of other priorities, particularly in the infrastructure around sewerage, for example.

"So we put it on the backburner but it's timely again that we revisit it.

"It's been well over 20 years, I imagine, since we have looked at that and it does need tidying up, and it's the degree of what we need to do. We will be working with businesses, with Lands Trust and other commercial users and property owners in the CBD, so it will be a collaborative approach."

She said the budget of $3-4 million is precautionary and may not amount to as much as the council has accounted for.

"It may not need anywhere near the amount of money that we put in the long term plan but, again, because it is a long term plan we have to signal an amount," she said.

"So we've done up no plans that say it's going to cost 3 or 4 million dollars - we don't know that yet and we won't know that until we work out what is needed.

"We really want to make Masterton attractive to people who want to come into our CBD, and retail is highly competitive, so we have to make the environment attractive to draw people in.

"We can't control what businesses may or may not exist and we can't control where they go in the CBD," Mrs Patterson said.