People are being urged to have their say with options for revitalising Ōamaru’s town centre up for discussion.

The Waitaki District Council-driven Ō Hub has popped up in the former Trade Aid shop at 169 Thames Street until next Friday (August 9).

The space includes physical examples of what unused spaces could look like, using items such as outdoor furniture and games, and plants on loan from Statement Trees, as well as “master plan” posters, showcasing the possibilities available to help make Ōamaru’s central business district a more vibrant place to be.

Council business attraction and recovery manager Mel Jones says many plans impacting the town centre have been developed in isolation over time.

“However, there is no overarching development plan that recommends how to best connect the Ōamaru CBD and harbour area and create more vibrant public spaces,” she says.

Council placemaking lead Cyndi Christensen says a draft CBD master plan has been pulled together by planning and urban design specialists Barker and Associates, and it was up for feedback.

“The master plan has been developed through the accumulation of existing plans and strategies. So, the Oamaru spatial plan, the economic development strategy and the harbour plan,” she says.

“And the major theme on that is around connectivity.

“As you'll see through all of the posters, it shows different ways where we can connect not just people to the places, but connect those three very siloed areas of the harbour, the Victorian precinct and Thames Street.”

Imagining a different town centre for Ōamaru. Photo: Ashley Smyth

The feedback from this consultation will help further develop the master plan, which will set the direction for growth for the next 30 years.

One of the focus areas will be around CBD living, Cyndi says.

“We think that's really vital in order to make these spaces more alive.”

With the streetscape recreation, it gives people a feel of what different parts of town could look like, if some of the opportunities are realised, Cyndi says.

“We just want to give people a feel and give them an opportunity to come and talk to us.” 

Mel hopes the more tangible aspects of the pop-up will encourage more community involvement and interest.

“If you can start to bring things to life rather than - I mean it remains to see what input we get through the online forum - but actually, people can see it and they can talk and they can point and they can go, ‘what about?’, ‘what about?’, it makes it a little bit more engaging.”

It's about bringing people on the journey, and encouraging everybody to have a role, she says.

Different ideas will appeal to different people, and individuals and businesses will have the opportunity to get involved by maybe volunteering time or sponsoring a project

“People can choose to get involved in any way they want, but it's our place, that's the important thing. 

“It's like, this is our community, our place for our community. And through this work, it is about building a stronger sense of community, of belonging.”

Prior to the master plan being created, three CBD Revitalisation Workshops were held in December last year, March and June. Councillors, local business owners and community members came together in groups to explore opportunities and projects for the town. 

A number of ideas were presented, some of which can be delivered quickly while others will take longer to plan and fund and may be implemented with partners.

Mel says the council is an enabler in a supporting role for the project.

“Council's not going to be funding all of this, because they can't, but actually if we all work together, and we all have shared outcomes, then, you know, there's opportunity to do some really quite interesting things.”

The Ō Hub pop-up also fills a vacant shop space, meaning it also fits the brief as part of the Revitalise our Place Ōamaru (ROPO) programme, also being run by Waitaki District Council.

The space is open 10.30am to 3pm week days, and 11am to 1pm on Saturdays, from now until Friday, August 9.

Information is also available, and feedback welcome, on the Let's Talk Waitaki webpage for those residents unable to visit The Ō Hub.

Some of the suggestions made in the draft master plan for Ōamaru's CBD. Photo: supplied