Pookeno Community Hub

This project will see a new community hub with library and Council customer services built in Pookeno.

Council approved $6.5m for the development of the library and community hub as part of the 2021– 2031 Long Term Plan process. The Waikato District Blueprint 2019 also identified the need for a new library, community and customer services and facilities, among the priority initiatives for Pookeno.

A needs assessment and feasibility study is currently being carried out to consider who would use the library and community hub and what services and activities the library and community hub would need to offer to meet the current and future needs, location options and what it might look like.

Council’s recent purchase of 16 Market Road (where the fruit shop used to be) provides options to potentially better connect the project to Great South Road and the community hall space, and an opportunity to step back, engage with the community, consider the Pookeno Public Realm Concept Plan, and test the project options before hitting go on a preferred option.

Project update

May 2024 –  People from the community have now contributed through co-design workshops to the development of three options and the identification of a preferred option for the Pookeno community hub with library.

At the second co-design workshop, we shared three draft options for the community hub with library, and then we asked everyone to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each of those options.  View more information about the preferred options. 

We then tested if there was a consensus on a preferred option. We asked participants, either individually or as a group, to use the Options Assessment we had developed. They were asked to consider each of the benefit statements and each of the project principles and how well they thought each option responded to them.

The discussion that followed confirmed that there was majority support for Option 1, which retains the Pookeno Hall, addresses the site constraints of 10 Market Street and provides space for activation and events close to Great South Road.

We’re keen to hear what you think of Option 1 by completing our survey, which will be available until 5 June 2024.