Ange Holt
We would like to start this month’s column with an acknowledgement of the hardship our communities have faced because of the recent storm. We have been impressed with the resilience and the can-do attitude of the communities affected. We would also like to thank the Waipā District Council staff, volunteers and associated parties that have put in many hours to get funding and resources out to those affected. We know this is going to be a long road to recovery and we hope it all returns to “normal” as quickly as possible.
We note that there have been articles in the press naming the areas around the district that are closed by council, due to them being unsafe with slips and land being unstable. Can we please reiterate that if an area is closed, that you stay out, leave the signage and fences in place. It is tempting to just do what we like but you can potentially put yourself or others less able at risk by doing so. Good news is there are tracks starting to open.
As a Community Board we have been quietly working in the background to set ourselves up with a solid plan that gives the community some wins and runs through into the next triennium to provide continuity of any unfinished projects into the future. We can share at this point that one of the identified priorities is to give our Main Street a freshen up. This is a project that has been on our radar and that of the retailers for a few years now. Street furniture and gardens are looking tired. Mayor Mike Pettit has had a look and is supportive of us looking into this further. We appreciate there is not surplus funding, so we are needing to be creative in finding ways to fund this.
Another project that has also been on our plan previously is redoing the Heritage Signs around the town. A few years back most of Kihikihi’s heritage signs were replaced but the ones in Te Awamutu have slowly deteriorated or gone missing. We believe it is important to tell the stories of our history to keep the knowledge in our community for future generations. Board Member Jill Taylor at time of writing has made a request on our March Agenda to approve some funding to get this project underway.
We are also excited to learn that as a positive outcome of initial conversations about the beautification of the town and a current graffiti problem that with the support of Councillor Dale-Marie Morgan and local resident Paula Walsh a new “Keep Te Awamutu Beautiful” group is being formed and one of their first projects will be to work with the owners of buildings to get the graffiti painted out.
