You told us and we listened
The future of Cambridge is looking bright thanks to the newly adopted Town Concept Plan Refresh with improved green spaces, better walking and cycling networks and a transformation of Victoria Street.
Waipa District Council today voted to adopt the Cambridge Town Concept Plan Refresh, a long term visionary document looking at the town’s expected growth and future development over the next 50 to 100 years.
The Plan covers green spaces and activity hubs such as Carter’s Flat, as well as a mix of residential and business development in the town centre.
Strategy manager Kirsty Downey said the document had been formed with significant input from Iwi partners, community leaders and the wider Cambridge community.
“Town concept plans are about ensuring our towns remain vibrant and are great places for people to live, work and play. We wanted this project to be community led so the people of Cambridge could tell us what they wanted for the future of their town.
“Over the course of this project, we held a number of feedback sessions and were blown away with the number of locals who submitted their ideas and then helped to rank them so we could develop this Plan.”
The first round of feedback was held October-November 2018, when Council asked the community for big, bold ideas for the future of Cambridge. More than 1700 responses were received and considered by iwi partners, the project steering group and Council staff.
In May this year, Council went back to the community with a list of key ideas across five focus themes and asked people to rank the ideas in order of importance.
The 450 responses Council received told us Cambridge locals wanted a better-connected open space network incorporating the green belt, Lake Te Koo Utu, Karapiro stream and the Waikato River, as well as better walking and cycling conditions to be top priorities.
This was closely followed by a strong desire to transform Victoria Street into a more family-friendly place and improvements in the health of Lake Te Koo Utu along with sharing the lake’s cultural significance.
“These ideas are now in our future plans for Cambridge and will be implemented over time. The key thing is that we know what is important to locals and we have a clear vision and direction to move forward.”
The Cambridge Town Concept Plan Refresh will be available on our website from early October. For more information on town concept plans, head to https://www.waipadc.govt.nz/townconceptplans.