• What do you love about the Whakatāne town centre and riverfront?
• What would you change if you could?
• Now's the chance to help shape the future of the CBD.

Whakatāne has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revitalise its town centre and strengthen ties with its awa (river), while creating long lasting social, environmental, cultural and economic benefits for the community through a new $20-plus million programme called Te Ara Hou.

Te Ara Hou is a partnership between Whakatāne District Council and Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa. The programme is supported by Provincial Growth Fund and Whakatāne District Council investment, and forms part of the wider Whakatāne Regeneration Programme.

The first stage of Te Ara Hou - the remediation of the Whakatāne Town Wharf, which literally sets the platform for realising the rest of the programme - is already underway. The next stage involves the revitalisation of the town centre and riverfront areas.

The partners are calling on the Whakatāne community to "tell us what you think about the Town Centre and Riverfront Plan to ensure the projects incorporate the things you value and deliver what you  want."

Consultation takes place from Saturday, 19 September and will continue through to December. The first phase, which focusses on principles and objectives, closes on 3 October. Information gathered through the first engagement process will be used to create concept designs that will be shared with the community later in the year.

Mayor, Judy Turner, says Te Ara Hou asks people to think about how they use the CBD and riverfront areas now, and to explore and share their views on possibilities for how it could be used in the future.

"Through Te Ara Hou we have the opportunity to create a continuous riverfront promenade for locals and visitors to enjoy that has areas for recreational activities and events, as well as space to walk and cycle, supported by slower-speed streets."

We can enhance our town centre and create more seamless connections to the new promenade and a refurbished Whakatāne Town Wharf structure, she says.

"But far more than just creating new infrastructure, Te Ara Hou is about celebrating our history and creating a vibrant CBD for the future - unlocking social, environmental, cultural and economic potential - as well as creating more jobs, tourism activities and other opportunities."

Mayor Turner says now is the opportunity for the community to put foward ther views about what’s important to them to help inform a detailed design phase. 

Views are also being sought on 'Innovating Streets (Town Centre / Kakahoroa Drive) which has secured separate external funding from Waka Kotahi (NZ Transport Agency) for initiatives that look at how we can rethink the use of our streets and transition into safer and more liveable spaces.

Innovating Streets will enable the trial activation on a temporary basis of some of the concepts and ideas put forward during the Town Centre and Riverfront Plan engagement. Some early impressions of the types of things that could be trialled will be available to view on Council's website from this weekend. The imagery is designed for people to imagine what could be possible through Te Ara Hou.

Visit the Kōrero Mai website koreromai.whakatane.govt.nz and register now to have your say from Saturday 3 October.