Busy time ahead for Community Board members

June 13th, 2011
[by David Armstrong]

The second half of 2011 is shaping up to be a very busy and hopefully productive six months for the Motueka Community Board, with several projects ready to reach fruition, says board chairman David Ogilvie.

In his report for the board's June meeting tomorrow night, David lists projects that are under active discussion with TDC's Community Services team and which are expected to progress or complete during the 2011/12 financial year to begin in July.

These include Tapu Bay/Stephen’s Bay development, Motueka Quay landscape/car parking/bollards, a walkway/cycleway from the Recreation Centre to Thorps Bush, the Bruce Mitchell sculpture installation, Motueka Library investigations, Memorial Hall and Image Theatre upgrades, the Link Park to York Park walkway/board walk, the Wharf Road walkway, and Inlet reserve and estuary perimeter plantings (the last three being Keep Motueka Beautiful projects).

In addition, the set of 60 historical plaques in Decks Reserve are expected to be installed by the end of November. Checking and any correcting of the historical data on the plaques is almost completed. They will then be constructed of a marble composite and displayed in Motueka shops for a short time. Council hopes that local residents might decide to sponsor some of the plaques and hence reduce costs.

The board will also have some crucial policy work to decide upon, including its response to the recently released and much debated Central and West Motueka Strategy Plan and the increasingly contentious move to transfer financial governance and operations of the Aerodrome to a Motueka based committee.

Given the acceptance of the extra targeted rate for Motueka use by TDC, the community board will also need to manage a community consultation process to decide how the funds should be spent.

Board members will also need to take a more active part in board meetings and board work if a recommendation by David is accepted at tomorrow's meeting. His recommendation, arising from the NZ Community Boards’ conference which he attended recently, suggests:

Each board member will prepare a 1 – 2 page (maximum 500 words) Statement of Intent – a policy of objectives, ideas, projects, goals – that he or she envisages for this 2010 – 2013 term of the board.
Each board member will select a topical item and prepare for the meeting a short (100 words) report on that item for each monthly meeting, under a new agenda item “Items of the Month”. The item could arise from a community group, or a conversation with a resident, or the member's own idea.

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