Auckland City plans to canvas members of Otahuhu’s Mainstreet programme about the level of the separate rate, its geographical boundaries and its management structure.

It plans to hold a poll in the first week of April, which will be sent to all separate ratepayers and business owners within the Otahuhu Mainstreet programme.

The poll will ask eligible voters how they feel about amount the they pay towards the programme, which is levied in addition to annual rates charges. It will also ask which of three boundary options they prefer and which of two structures they support for the management of the programme.

Otahuhu separate ratepayers who would like further information, or to discuss the issues, can attend a public meeting to be held in the Otahuhu Town Hall on March 29 from 5.45 to 7pm. There will also be an information caravan located in the Otahuhu town centre until March 30.

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Mainstreet programmes were developed during the 1970s and 1980s by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States. This was in response to the decline of traditional towns and neighbourhood shopping centres as a result of the growth and competition from suburban shopping malls.

Since then the programme has been successful in revitalising town centres and providing employment in many different countries.

The Otahuhu Mainstreet Programme has managed and paid for business promotions, security and streetscape improvements in central Otahuhu since 1991. It was the first Mainstreet programme in Auckland and the second in New Zealand.

Auckland City Council will take the results of the poll into consideration when it makes a decision on the level of the rate, boundaries and management structure of the programme in late April.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:
Di Stewart, Community Planner Mainstreet, tel: 379 2020.

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