A Bright Future for Pirongia
Improving access to the Waipā river, providing more recreational places for youth and making it safer for children to walk and cycle to school are key focuses of a plan for the future of Pirongia.
Waipā District Council today voted to adopt the Pirongia Village Concept Plan Refresh, a long-term visionary document which outlines key aspirations for Pirongia over the next 50 years.
Hundreds of Pirongia residents had their say during the six month consultation process which began in February this year.
Council strategy manager Kirsty Downey said the concept plan refresh had been led by the Pirongia community in what was a “truly bottom up approach”.
“This project involved two rounds of public engagement and was guided by a Project Steering Group (PSG) which comprised of key community leaders and was in partnership with iwi.
“Town concept plans are about ensuring our towns are great places for people to work, live and play so it was crucial to let the community guide us on how the Pirongia Village Concept Plan Refresh should look.”
During the first round of feedback, Council asked the Pirongia community for its bold ideas for the future of their town. Over 140 responses were received and considered by the PSG.
Downey said what was important to residents became very clear after the first round of engagement.
“It was evident to us, even from an early stage, that having well-maintained and easy access to the Waipā river, improving the health of the river and creating more spaces for youth to spend time in were key priorities.
“This feedback helped the project steering group and council staff to draw up 10 key ideas which we then asked the community to rank.”
Downey said actions determined by the highest ranked ideas, such as creating a walking trail along the town belt, would now be considered in future Long Term Plan (LTP) reviews for implementation.
“There are some actions we are able to roll out in the near future. However, others will take a bit more time to get funding for and to implement.
“As much as we would love to make all the changes outlined in the document immediately, the budget we have restricts us to rolling them out over time.”
Council is currently replacing the public toilets with new facilities that are almost double the size. They are expected to be complete and ready for use in November.
The Pirongia Village Concept Plan Refresh will be available on Council’s website from 12 October at www.waipadc.govt.nz/townconceptplans.
