Public open days to discuss Mapara Valley development

The second round of open days for the draft Mapara Valley Structure Plan are being held this Friday and Saturday from 10am – 3pm and next Wednesday 16 January from 4pm until 7pm at the Acacia Bay Hall to provide the community an insight into the proposed structure plan for the Mapara Valley and to capture feedback.

Since the last open days held in September 2007, further work has been carried out on the draft Structure Plan including more detail on where the urban areas will go and the surrounding rural area, what buildings and roads might look like, how much land will be set aside for retail and commercial areas and how the development might be serviced for drinking water and wastewater.

Group Manager, Environment Services Gareth Green said that the first round of open days were very useful for collecting feedback and the next round of open days was to show the public how we have further developed the draft plan, incorporating their feedback, and to see what they think of the latest version.

“We want to hear the communities feedback on the work that we have done so far before we head into the formal submissions and hearing process, which is anticipated to begin in March”, he said.

The Department of Conservation will also be in attendance at the open days to talk to the public about potential management options for the Whakaipo Bay Area.

The reason for the development of the Mapara Valley Structure Plan is that the District’s Growth Management Strategy, Taupo District 2050 (TD2050), has identified the Mapara Valley as a future growth area for Taupo and it is estimated that up to 2000 residential lots may be located in the Mapara Valley over the next 20 years.