Community Board to review Main Street project

04 March 2019

Western Bay of Plenty District Council has asked the Te Puke Community Board to comment on the review of the proposed changes to the Te Puke Main Street project.

Council has agreed to change some plant species and reduce their height at the approaches to roundabouts and intersections to improve visibility. Council will seek further advice on suitable plant species, however Council doesn't propose wholesale changes to the plantings.

Council is also reviewing options for the Plaza and has asked the Board for comment on those options.

Issues for the Community Board to consider are:

• Changing the grass/plant species to improve visibility for motorists and pedestrians on the approach to roundabouts and at entranceways on the northern approaches to Te Puke (Te Puke Quarry Rd to Boucher Ave).
• Plaza options:
• Retain the plaza as currently constructed
• Reduce the size of the plaza to enable three more car parks to be installed ($90,000)
• Level the plaza to make it more useable by installing a timber platform over the pavers or by lifting and levelling the paved platform on the eastern section of the town ($70,000-$100,000).

Council also received a report on the parking in town including numbers of parks, occupancy rates and areas of concern.

There are 520 public carparks in the town compared to the 488 before the upgrade. The additional parks are the public ones in the New World carpark and the leased area by the Heritage Walkway.

Council has also leased an additional 12 carparks immediately adjacent to the Heritage Walkway which effectively replace the ones lost in the main street.

The Te Puke Main Street revamp was done in 2017 and included single-laning of Jellicoe St to create a safer environment for shoppers reversing out of parks and to reduce traffic speed through the main centre.

More pedestrian crossings were installed, footpaths were upgraded, traffic site-lines were improved and extensive landscaping work was done throughout the main centre.

Following the completion of the project a survey of residents and visitors was done in September 2017 which showed a mixed response to the changes.

Council undertook to review the layout after 12 months of it being in place and this review is now in the hands of the Community Board which will make recommendations back to Council.

Ends.