A busy year ahead for Council

It's another busy year ahead for Wanganui District Council, with some key projects well under way and financial decisions to be made.

"We have a big year ahead of us," says Mayor Annette Main.

"We will be focusing on some major projects, and will need to balance these with our ratepayers' ability to pay for them.

"I'm looking forward to continuing to meet with groups, organisations and individuals who are working together to make their own neighbourhoods better places to live. The community spirit we have in Wanganui is fantastic and is something we should all be proud of.

"We live in a wonderful part of the country and whatever the challenges we face as a community, I believe we are able to meet them and thrive – as well as show the rest of New Zealand what a great place Wanganui is."

What's happening in 2012

Work has started on developing the Council’s Draft 10-Year Plan 2012-2022, in which Council sets out our aims and projects for the coming decade and outlines how we intend to fund these. We will be consulting with our ratepayers in April and encourage submissions to be made.

2012 will bring more challenges and opportunities as we work through issues around our earthquake-prone buildings. Balancing the value of our historical buildings and collections with the earthquake risk will require us to work closely together to find the best solutions for our District.

We will be seeking external funding to further develop the Sarjeant Gallery. The development will ensure earthquake strengthening of the Sarjeant as well as providing appropriate environmental controls to protect the collection. The development will include some additional exhibition space and better public facilities.

Work on our District Plan review continues. Called the 'Shaping Wanganui' project, we have so far consulted on the Central City and Riverfront areas. We are continuing to consult on the residential sections of the District Plan and will also be consulting on our built heritage this year.

Wanganui was the third place in New Zealand to start building an ultrafast broadband fibre optic cable network. The network is being built by Ultrafast Fibre and their contractors Transfield and will cost $35M. Work in the central business district has been completed with the next phase of the network build from January to June 2012 covering parts of the College Estate, Springvale Park, St John's Hill and Gonville. It will then roll-out into other suburbs and neighbourhoods later in the year. The first mass connections to ultrafast broadband are expected mid-2012.

Both Safer Wanganui and the Community Taskforce on Youth Wellbeing continue to work to ensure a safer and better community for everyone by supporting initiatives and programmes.

Progress on the Whanganui River claim settlement will also provide opportunities for the community to develop collaborative solutions that will serve our future generations well.

A group of enthusiastic volunteers has been restoring No. 12 Tram, which was gifted to the people of Wanganui by David Harre. The tram will "go live" on January 23 as part of Wanganui Festival Weekend and take its first short outing from the Tram Shed. Construction of stage one of the tramline, from the Tram Shed to the PS Waimarie berth, is scheduled to begin in February and will mark the beginning of the redevelopment of the riverfront area.

Wanganui Festival Weekend

Wanganui is the place to be for Wellington Anniversary Weekend this year, with three fantastic events making up the Wanganui Festival Weekend.

There's something for everyone with music, entertainment, vintage cars, exhibitions, food and drink and plenty of action on and off the Whanganui River.

The first ‘festival’ day on Saturday, January 21, is the Rivercity Caboodle, organised by Mainstreet Wanganui. There’s a huge range of entertainment running all day and into the night, with bands, theatre and fashion from bygone eras. The day ends with an outdoor cinema experience of the classic movie ‘Casablanca’.

On Sunday, January 22, the festival fun moves to Wanganui Racecourse where the International Vintage Car Club rally will be holding a public open day. This will be one of the highlights of the Rally which is being held in Wanganui from January 16-26. There will be around 700 vintage vehicles on display, as well as entertainment and stalls. The day will attract visitors from across New Zealand.

The Whanganui River is the focus for Monday, January 23, with the Boardwalk Festival at Moutoa Quay near the Visitor Information Centre. Starting at 10.00am there's a series of river races including sprint kayaks, corporate eightss and single scull sprints. Everyone can take part in the 'Plastic Fantastic' race which will be held at 12noon. There’s a $2.00 entry fee and two categories – devices with and without rudders.

Local bands will be providing music throughout the day so it’s a perfect opportunity to spend the day relaxing by the river with family and friends.

At 2.00pm the No. 12 Tram will take its first official outing from the Tram Shed. The occasion will celebrate the start of the project to lay tram tracks to the PS Waimarie berth.

All of the events in the Wanganui Festival Weekend have received funding from Wanganui District Council. The weekend will be a fantastic opportunity to showcase Wanganui to visitors and give local people three great days out.

WOW – it’s Wanganui Opera Week

Wanganui Opera Week was formed in 2003 to support and promote the New Zealand Opera School which is held each year in Wanganui.

The New Zealand Opera School is dedicated to bringing the very best tutors together from New Zealand and the UK to provide a high standard of training to New Zealand's emerging opera stars.

There are some great events taking place during Wanganui Opera Week, including a lunchtime recital at the Sarjeant Gallery on January 5, a public Master Class on January 6 and January 9 and a Grand Finale Concert at the Royal Wanganui Opera House on January 13.

If you’d like to see opera in a casual setting, opera students will be performing at three café/restaurant venues on January 11.

Tickets for all performances are available from the Royal Wanganui Opera House box office, phone 349 0511 or online here. For more information about Wanganui Opera Week click here.

Wanganui Opera Week has received funding from Wanganui District Council's Impact Fund. The Impact Fund supports projects which will generate significant economic benefits to the Wanganui city and district.

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Temporary road closure
Shakespeare Road
(Contractor Downer NZ Ltd)

From Monday, 9 January 2012, Shakespeare Road will be closed to through traffic for approximately four weeks.

The road closure will be between the driveway access to properties No. 26-28 to enable the installation of a retaining wall.

To access properties 1 to 28 Shakespeare Road the lower Georgetti Road entrance should be used. Properties numbered 32 and upwards may be accessed from the higher Georgetti Road entrance.

Pedestrian and vehicle access will not be available through the work site.

Click on the map to view a larger image.

Use of sprinklers

Consumers are advised that automatic garden sprinklers can be used by all residents (irrespective of whether their house number is an odd or even number) between the following times:

7pm to 9pm     During the hours of daylight saving
6pm to 8pm     Outside the hours of daylight saving

Hand-held hoses can be used at any time.