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Brian Anderson |
The news a couple of weeks ago that part of the $13 million Katikati Town Centre Plan was going ahead is not well-received by residents. The local newspapers included a mock-up of the northern parking area, which on first glance suggests the whole plan is going ahead without any further public consultation. When the original plan was discussed five years ago there was some consternation the town would be paying through targeted rates and then residents had more questions than answers.
This year, the Western Bay Mayor accepted there would have to be more public consultation, but there is no evidence of this in the press release. The most common comment from the public in my walkabout during the last few weeks is this is another case of the Western Bay council doing whatever it likes and we're powerless to stop them. Even more threatening is the report that some stakeholders had already been consulted and there would be a meeting of a new Katikati Town Centre Control Group.
The discussion at the control group meeting was primarily to identify who might want to use the upgraded old fire station building, and initiate meetings with those ‘stakeholders' to ensure the upgrade was going to meet their needs. Initially, there had been doubts over the future of the fire station building. But current plans for a great community facility are coming clearer and the meeting arranged by council staff for planning the inevitable upgrade of the building, and immediate area included, was very purposeful and practical.
The associated tidy-up of the front of the Memorial Hall and the reorganisation of the parking did add a little worry over how far-reaching the new KTCCP might wish to see their control function extended. The term ‘control group' is a little foreboding but it is a standard term used in the project management industry; and working with individual stakeholders on details is normal practice. But the public are stakeholders as well, and there are still a number of questions from the 2011 plan relating to the library and parking that will need more public involvement and input in the future.
The meeting was a little robust for a start. It was not a secret meeting as such, but was called by council staff to seek assistance from the Katikati Community Board, and other interested parties, in reaching all of the groups who have previously shown interest in using the fire station area and the Memorial Hall frontage to help with their planning. The intention, at the moment, is there will be more expected from the new community board, which are part of the control group – and for it to communicate with the public, to keep people up-to-date; and to provide information and feedback in future. The current plan is available in the library, but I hope the new community board takes up the challenge and includes public stakeholders in any of their discussions in future, as the plan evolves.