The Titirangi Ratepayers and Residents Association is delighted that the people of Titirangi came out in force to attend Tuesday night’s Waitakere City Council public meeting to discuss the Future for Titirangi Village.
Over 200 people packed into the War Memorial Hall to hear the Council ask for their views on how the Village should develop over the next 50 years to inform the District Plan Change currently being drafted.
The message they heard was loud, clear and consistent from the 18 groups at the meeting when reporting back the results of their discussions.
People wanted the village to remain compact and low-rise, dominated by the bush and the landscape, to be pedestrian and people friendly with commercial activities appropriate to serve the needs of the community first and foremost, while recognising Titirangi’s role as a destination secondly. They wanted to see better walking links between the commercial strip and the community areas and new walkways throughout the area, with more public space in the village. The idea of an “urban designed” town was rejected as everyone liked the ad hoc collection of small buildings that has evolved over time, as it is unique to Titirangi and marks the difference between here and other urban centres. Lopdell House was clearly the Village’s greatest treasure and needs to have its iconic status recognised and not be competed with by other buildings.
In 50 years time people wanted to see the Village no longer dominated by traffic and for it to remain at a human scale with any development fitting in with the overall character of the village. That it would continue to be the social and cultural focus for the area, the place where bush livers go to meet and connect with each other.
Titirangi Ratepayers and Residents Association spokesperson Mels Barton was overjoyed at the community’s response. “The great turnout shows how much people care about Titirangi Village and that they want to be involved in decision making about its future. The Council has asked for our views, we hope they listen carefully to the answers they received so we can keep our unique Heritage Area Village forever and not have its character spoilt by inappropriate development”.
The Association looks forward to seeing the draft District Plan Change that will be put to the Council’s Policy and Strategy Committee in December.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)