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Raetihi

TE TIHI O TE RAE KI MĀKŌTUKU

Raetihi Community Hub - Presentation of the Concept Design

A partnership between Ruapehu District Council and Te Korowai o Wainuiārua.

On Thursday 15th of August two community meetings were held to present the Concept Designs and the name of the proposed Raetihi Community Hub to the Raetihi Community.

.Te Korowai o Wainuiārua hosted a series of naming workshops to bring kaumātua and whānau together to establish a name for the hub – Te Tihi o te Rae ki Mākōtuku. This name pays homage to the maunga Te Tihi o te Rae in which Raetihi draws its name from, and the hubs location near the Mākōtuku River.

"A community hub that is the heart of Raetihi, a place to share stories and come together. A place that celebrates culture, heritage, the environment, a community hub that is sustainable"

The main entry acknowledges the Raetihi Marae by referencing a similar western access. The Poupou activates the corner; acting as a signal for those entering from the town side & establishing a cultural presence prior to entering the site.

Click on the banner to see the full set of concept slides as presented to the community on 15 August 2024

Main Entrance

Birds eye view

Community Space

View from Ohakune Raetihi Road

Preferred Location

2-4 Seddon Street, Raetihi. Where the current police station is located. Te Korowai o Wainuiārua are in the process of reclaiming the land as part of their treaty settlement and have offered it for the Community Hub as part of the Partnership with RDC.

While a number of other locations have been looked at or proposed, the advantages of the preferred site include, size, ownership, connecting the site to the Kāhui Maunga and significant landmarks such as Ruapehu as well as the Mākōtuku. The site has good proximity to the town centre and marae and is part of the open space network that follows the Mākōtuku river. The site is directly adjacent to the 4.1km Mākōtuku trail, a recently developed community asset along the awa. The trail provides places to fish, swim, cycle, enjoy significant ngahere.

Funding

In 2018, Council budgeted $1.5m for a refurbishment or rebuild of its Raetihi Service Centre in Raetihi. This started the conversation and journey with Te Korowai on partnering to build a joint administration/hub/service centre. Seven years later, the original funding remains in the Long Term Plan, (in the year for 2027). With increases in inflation, that original budget is now $3m. The project has always acknowledged that external funding will be essential as the cost of a new centre is over and above what Council has budgeted to refurbish the existing Service Centre.

What do you think of the concept plans?

We're excited to share the concept plans for Raetihi's proposed new multi-use community hub, and now we want to hear from you! Please take a moment to share your feedback—let us know how the plans made you feel, if they captured everything you think we need, and anything else on your mind. Your input will help guide the next steps.

What are your overall thoughts and feelings about the concept plans as presented? Click on the banner to give us your feedback.

Raetihi Community Hub development journey

One of the questions put to the community through the 2018-2028 Long Term Plan was whether they preferred upgrading the Council's current Service Centre or investing in a new multi-purpose Community Hub.

Support for the Community Hub proposal led to Council and local iwi represented by the Uenuku Charitable Trust (Uenuku) fund a Business Case that looked at the Hub proposal and supporting opportunities in more detail.

A Steering Group comprising representatives from Council and Uenuku supported by a specialist Project Manager Cathy McCartney who had a leading role in the development of the very successful Community Hub project in Foxton has been established.

Council has budgeted $1m for 2025 in the current 2021/31 Long Term Plan toward the Community Hub project.

Intensive public consultation which aimed to hear from as many stakeholders as possible across all ages, genders and ethnicities to identify community needs and preferences has taken place.

We wanted to hear peoples thoughts on what a Community Hub could be including the sort of facilities, services, types of spaces, look and feel do you need or want from a multi-function space and where do you think it should be?

The goal is to consolidate all this feedback into a Request for a Proposal (RFP) which can be provided to suitably qualified architects to develop a winning concept plan from.

Find out more

The links below tell the story from the initial Business Planning to Community Consultation and the Planning Brief.

Document Links

Raetihi Town Revitalisation 2021-31 Long Term Plan

Community members of Raetihi have expressed a desire to restart the revitalisation of Raetihi. This is in the very initial planning stages of the process and Council is working with the community to come up with a plan on how to progress with the journey.

The initial meeting of the Raetihi Town Revitalisation Steering Group was held in May 2023 to formally start the Town Revitalisation Project.

Community Engagement will be at the center of the development of projects going forward.

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