Growing Marlborough

This month the Council is holding the decision-making meetings that will confirm how the development of northern Marlborough’s townships should go ahead. This is part of the region-wide planning being done as our “Growing Marlborough” urban design strategy, aimed at providing us with a development path for the next quarter of a century.

Good town planning does not look simply at land use but at the way services and people’s other needs fit into the overall picture; the social and physical infrastructure.

With “Growing Marlborough” we are creating a plan which attempts to address everything from traffic flows to the appearance of our amenities to the areas for population expansion. It will be a strategy document to guide Council decision-making; the most advanced piece of town planning ever done for the region, aiming to balance the area’s social, environmental and economic needs - based on what the people of Marlborough have told us are their priorities.

The planning project has been split into three areas, taking in the townships and bays across the north of the region, the Wairau-Awatere population centres and the Blenheim town centre. The planning has been a mix of professional expertise and local input brought together by way of workshops and submissions.

The Urban Design Strategy for Blenheim was approved in 2010. The Maxwell Road/ Seymour Street cycleway and street trees project (about to be constructed) and the Queen Street pocket park (to be consulted with affected parties) are among the first projects the Council is moving ahead with from that plan but there are many other improvements directly affecting the CBD to be brought in as funding permits.

The public consultation and feedback part of the Southern Marlborough (Wairau Awatere) planning is now finished and the Council has made its final decisions on the proposed re-zoning and the specific projects which it will consider funding under that section of the plan.

That includes such things as the possible location of future subdivisions, landscaping needs in the small settlements and design measures to improve traffic safety, particularly on main roads.

The second of the Northern Marlborough Urban Growth Strategy decision meetings took place this week and a further meeting on 21 November. This meeting is open to the public.

Amongst the matters to be considered are the plans for the Picton CBD and the ideas relating to Havelock, Canvastown and Rai Valley, Anikiwa, Tirimoana, Linkwater, Whatamongo Bay, Momorangi, The Grove, Ohingaroa Bay, Wakamarina and Okiwi Bay.

• Read about the decisions affecting Northern Marlborough that have already been made by Councillors; on the Council website.

There’s also information there on the other parts of the Growing Marlborough plan.