The Bell Block Spatial Plan is out for consultation and it is chocker block full of spending.

The Bell Block Spatial Plan is out for consultation and it is chocker block full of ideas for spending.

Ratepayers and Renters are desperately saying stop spending money we don’t need to spend, but the NPDC people who make plans, have this desire to keep spending unnecessary money.

• We have also become aware in a recent NPDC meeting that the population of New Plymouth is forecast to decrease - so spending money we don’t need to - is even more important not to do.

We just want to remind everyone that this Spatial Plan is a draft document and the Elected Officials make the final decision about adopting, or changing the plan. Feedback they get from the public helps them to make changes based on what people have to say.

In a recent Council meeting we were told with all the current NPDC Long Term Plans (LTP’s) – all of the plans written over the years – with projects not yet completed – there are 500 projects which are currently active for New Plymouth. Yes - you read that right.

• The Bell Block Spatial Plan wants to add another 123 projects – just for Bell Block.

46 of those projects are considered High priority

Only 20 are considered Low priority.

There is no mention how many dollars is Medium, High or Very High levels of spending, so we have no idea how much money the NPDC would like to spend on any of these projects.

Will a Medium project cost $1 million or $10 million ? The cost of projects in this spatial plan breaks down as:

19 Medium spend

11 High spend

6 Very high spend

• How much do those vague numbers add up to and how much will this add to your rates ? The community needs more detailed information to be able to respond to a consultation for this Spatial Plan.

We have attached a copy of the pages of the Spatial Plan with the 5 goals being proposed, and the 123 projects under those goals. With each box, in the bottom left hand corner there is a note of who is the Action Lead, Action Partners and Stakeholders. You may find some of those relationships interesting. You will also note that for some projects not only are your rates being used, you will also be paying through taxes for central government involvement.

• We strongly recommend people have a look at the tables with these goals and projects to make yourself familiar with what is proposed to happen in Bell Block.
• Also bearing in mind that the Waitara and Bell Block Spatial Plan models are destined to be created for the rest of New Plymouth.

There is a project in this plan for a Marae Precinct on De Havilland Drive, which will include social housing. We’ve attached pages from the plan explaining the project if people want to know more. This concept comes off State Highway 3 which already has issues with traffic flows, so how will this affect the industrial area with increased traffic ?

We have put together a table of high priority projects (attached), which ratepayers may consider to be nice to have projects. You may want to comment on those in a reply to the consultation. This list also shows duplication of facilities and walkways/cycleways which we don’t think is a good idea.

We have also attached a series of photos in the Spatial Plan showing how projects may look in real life. These are examples in the main consultation document. Have a close look at the photos:

• Housing in streets with no place for cars (even the preferred electric ones)
• Lots of planting in the streets so not many cars wanted - and devaluing the existing properties
• Photos of what community buildings and art work may look like
• Examples of what infill housing and streets may look like

We would suggest if the NPDC wants to put in place new cycleways, walkways and open spaces, rather than spend a fortune filling up existing roads with planter boxes and obstacles, and devaluing the value of the properties on those roads, why don’t they create the concept of what they want in new greenfield developments with shared walkways and cycleways, but out of the way of property owners and main traffic flow. There are myriads of successful builds where walkways and cycleways don’t interfere with everyday life all across NZ.

And the whole point of the Waitara to New Plymouth walkway/cycleway is to be a feeder route for people not using cars or main roads to get to and from New Plymouth. Why are cycleways being duplicated within the streets of Bell Block to avoid SH3 ? Why isn’t the plan to feed active transport onto the Waitara to New Plymouth Walkway, in either direction ?

Please share this with anyone you think may be interested, and with people you know who live in Bell Block.

The Consultation closes on Friday 16^th October at 11.59pm.

Open text boxes are included so you can write what you want to say.

This is the link to the NPDC website page for this consultation:

https://haveyoursay.npdc.govt.nz/bell-block-spatial-plan

Or you can write your thoughts in an e-mail, add a heading “Submission for Bell Block Spatial Plan”, put your name on the page and e-mail it to:

enquiries@npdc.govt.nz