Consultation at Te Puia

The minutes of the meeting held at Te Puia Service Centre, 5pm 10 February 2010

Names of the attendees

1. Councillor welcomed everyone to the meeting;
2. Council staff explained the purpose of the township plans and initiated discussions on what residents currently have in Te Puia and what they would like to see in there in the next 20 years;
3. The discussions were recorded on flip charts;
4. Councillor ended the meeting by thanking everyone for their attendance and invited them to stay for a cup of tea.  

Korero from the hui

Need to preserve what we currently have now;

Close to the hospital; beaches; kaimoana; church; three marae; cemetery/urupa; whanau; visitors, seasonal campers; rainwater tanks; fishing club boat ramp; long drops on beaches; forestry employment; tarseal road Waipiro Road; natural beauty, flora and fauna; isolation; metal roads (Kopuaroa, Mcillroy Rd, Waikawa); tranquility; climate; long rocks.

Te Puia in the Future

Native plantings on both sides of the river to the bridge; pines chopped out in a whenua rahui; native plantings by lake; rubbish tip permanent (or big skip); upgrade beach toilets – more; roading attention – both sides, especially council sides; easy accessed community; water tables (water pours off road onto land now); building of bridge – McIllroy Road; parks and playground; skateboard park and adventure playground; onshore aquaculture – paua and kina; lifting of gazetted roads on beaches for future consideration by community; indoor activity centre/gymnasium; seawalls; shark nets around rahui rocks for tourism for scuba diving; expansion of rahui; tangata whenua research kaupapa on what kaimoana is there; thriving multi sector economy; too much focus on agriculture; some don’t want tourism, some do; tourism – should be low impact /high value; higher level accommodation – more $$; hot water from geothermal pools – stronger local hapu control over hot water use; no mining – whether ocean/land, (some would). Don’t want Taranaki situation here; better footpaths, safer paths for kids; no inshore aquaculture management area inshore; would be onshore, still allowing for tourism in pristine waters; no more forestry – bad health effects; manuka planting to hold erosion areas; that the community knows the specifications of their rates – be made aware of any impact to their rates due to projects outside of their area; no commercial crayfishing; raised interconnected walkways along coast – between beaches and up to the maunga; brings employment and low impact high value tourism; brings investment; No telecom towers (say some) near the people if they need to be out on the points of the Bay; native beautification; nature walks for kids to go and learn; DOC need to fix up walks; restoration of walkways – whose responsibility, is it? Picnic table at the reserve; car park area at hotel spruced up as community uses it as a public area (safer); road to be kept open at Waikawa clean drains to prevent flooding; keep cows off the road; have a community with togetherness and collaboration; have a community that grows with enthusiasm; have a community that works hand and hand together with council to improve the township; area by the hotel could be fixed up to have a community event e.g. boot sales, farmers market; activity centre for evening activities for kids; 5 places on Waikawa rd that continually erode (need to continually monitor to fix problem; use talents of local horticultural courses to plant natives to prevent erosion along Waikawa Road; successful towns have a township group that bring town together and work with outside agencies; better telephone exchange; township directory that lists all town services and facilities; cleaner lake; skate park; children’s recreation park; especially for 10 years and up; hall facilities improved – rebuilding; bill: community could make decisions on the future of the hall; good signage that says what Te Puia is about; big sign saying Hospital or a Red Cross to signify hospital; (tourists don’t know what Hauora is); extend EC duathalon to include leg to Waipiro; bus stop should be updated; a bus stop kids would be proud to stand in; walkway behind the hotel that encompasses kids learning needs; native preservation – get rid of wattle (gives asthma); good roading at top of town – outside hospital and hotel; difficult for elderly and kids to cross road at moment they cross at the blindspot – sides to high, difficult for cars to stop and for people to walk up; hot springs reopened – bring in business – with natural look and feel, bring tourists; whole community can take pride and embrace; top of hotel area needs cleaning up; proper animal control – registered dogs etc; information board to inform tourists at all times about activities/tourist spots in Te Puia; important to keep Service Centre; important to keep Hauora; more picnic areas/shaded area (also for Waipiro); lake walkway with picnic areas/shaded areas; maybe a kiosk on the lake – CLEAN the lake too paru;
would like to be able to access and swim in the lake; water reticulation – new piping – old ones are corroded; want water to be clean to drink for everyone; possibility of fluoridation; stormwater cesspit on McKenzie Sreet; it floods and puts mud and slush on streets; collapsed culvert on main route for schooling.  Kids have to walk across road to avoid mush; very happy about transfer station and tip lady! Very happy about recycling; cap and tap programme for clean water for everyone; more doctors at the hospital; fire hydrant is broken – needs fixing – by hotel.