From the Mayor

Good weather has been hitting us at last, with very high temperatures all February, and prospects of a great March. This has been perfect for our events, most notably the Martinborough Fair, which broke all sorts of records for visitors and stalls.

By the end of the month, we should have launched our Long Term Plan consultation, alongside options for future residential growth, which is one of the step towards developing a complete, district-wide Spatial Plan.

I saw some negative comments about anti-growth following the ‘growing pains’ article on Martinborough in The Dominion Post on 14 February. My comment is this, I am not anti-growth, but growing sensibly without ruining a town’s character is something the councillors and I have stressed over in our deliberations.

Finally, keep an eye out for the NZTA-funded Innovating Streets project. Nothing being proposed is permanent, it’s about working with the community to co-design and trial temporary changes to the northern edge of the square to see how we might make the space more people friendly and keep the town centre vibrant. We’re keen to hear your ideas so if you’ve not responded to the survey yet, it’s available here www.swdc.govt.nz/Innovating-Streets-Martinborough, and closes 12 March. 

Mayor Alex