Call for community input to town hub concept

September 8th, 2012
[by David Armstrong]

The Community Hub proposal by the recently formed Vision Motueka group will move into first gear with at an "ideas workshop" for community input to be held on Wednesday September 19th.

Vision Motueka wants to drive a project to design and develop an area, probably based on the Decks Reserve area behind High Street, that will give Motueka a central focus for both community activities and tourist information. Other possible suitable locations are also open for consideration.

One trigger for the proposal is the need for an upgraded town library. Vision Motueka and other community leaders believe that a new library should be part of the proposed hub, rather than patching up the existing building.

To date, details of what the hub would include have been deliberately vague. Before any concepts and designs are considered, Vision Motueka want to hear from the community what they think a great hub should include. That would include the kinds of buildings, services, facilities, spaces and access.

At this point of time, all options are open, and funding will be sought from a variety of sources. The aim is for an amenity that all residents will be proud of and visitors will remember and appreciate, with benefits to both the community and our economy.

The "ideas workshop" will be held at the Top 10 Holiday Park conference centre on September 19 starting at 7pm. The workshop will start with consideration of the basic framework of the envisaged hub, and then everyone attending will be encouraged to make suggestions about what they think a great hub would include.

One thing that becomes obvious to most people spending a bit of time in Motueka is the overall haphazardness of planning over the years of its growth. And the biggest deficiency of all is the lack of a central, readily accessible and inviting community and visitor hub.

Without getting into specific locations and layouts, the Vision Motueka group's vision of a community hub is an area clearly and obviously visible, inviting and accessible from central High Street, where visitors and locals alike of all ages could gather to relax, play, quench their thirst and hunger, visit the library, investigate and book holiday activities, learn about our history, culture and environment, attend meetings, and appreciate the quality of community life in our town.

As in historical times in countries all around the world, it would be considered the market place or the town square. These days we prefer to call it the town community hub.

Comment by Shirley Frater:
[Posted 8 September 2012]

Ideas are always great in a community. Not all is good with the new and not all is bad with the old. I make the suggestion before the Decks Reserve, our main village green / activity place in the centre of town, is redesigned, that someone checks on the the original land donation and its future use. It does have a history. The historic plaques are soon to be laid creating a history path.

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