Regular readers will know that I’ve spoken about growth a few times this year.
And I’m going to do it one more time before we see the new year in.
Growth brings many challenges with all the opportunities that it offers.
One of the challenges is funding as when you are in a period of growth with developers coming up with new subdivisions to provide much-needed housing, there’s a lot to be done on the infrastructure front.
And despite all the developer contributions involved, you still have a rating base that is not very big to fund all the activities that come with growth, and that’s partly a contributor to rates going up.
But despite all the challenges we’ve achieved quite a lot this year.
I’ll take you in a straight-ish line down from north to south – almost following the old Great South Road – to highlight all the growth and related work happening.
The obvious place to start is Pookeno, which continues to grow at pace.
The Pookeno Main Street Upgrade was finished this year. This project has transformed Great South Road with new paving, road narrowing, traffic calming measures, and a new pedestrian crossing.
The Pookeno Road/Great South Road Intersection Upgrade was also completed. This roundabout with wider traffic lanes and mountable kerbs has been constructed to improve safety and functionality.
The fantastic new courts at Pookeno Tennis Club were finished, with the addition of top quality floodlights.
The Pookeno Sports Park continues to progress, as the project moves to phase 3 which involves the creation of a masterplan for the site.
>And work to develop a community hub for our northern gateway into the district continues.
Further south, Te Kauwhata continues to grow with the continuation of the Lakeside development and this year saw the completion of the award-winning Te Kauwhata Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade to cater for growth. Improvement of water supply has also been achieved with the addition of new reservoirs.
In Ngaaruawaahia, we’re achieving great progress in building a new road, Festival Way, and associated stormwater services in the Festival Way as part of the new housing development off Old Taupiri Road. And a significant upgrade of the wastewater transmission sewer pipe in Ngaaruawaahia was also completed.
And then we come to the end of Great South Road, if you like, into the Horotiu area. This part of our district faces huge growth over the next few years with the development of Te Awa Lakes.
This is a massive housing development that straddles the Waikato District/Hamilton City southern border that will transform the area. There is a huge amount of work being done by staff in our Strategy and Growth team behind the scenes as plans for this development progress.
This is just a snapshot of all that we’re doing and with the growth inevitably comes growing pains.
We ask you to bear with us, if those pains come in the form of disruption to your daily lives, as we try to progress all our growth opportunities as effectively as we can.
It’s a bit of a rollercoaster ride but we remain committed to create liveable, thriving and connected communities in our great district.
As we celebrate the festive season, please take care as you, your whaanau and friends enjoy each other’s company recharging and taking a well-deserved break.
Hopefully we get a good dose of summer weather so we can make the most of our district’s parks and reserves, rivers, lakes, and coastline.
I look forward to seeing you all in the new year.'
Ngaa mihi, kind regards,
Mayor Jacqui