Roundabout consultation deadline extended

BY JULIA WADE

Following on from the public consultation process, the fate of Mangawhai village’s busy T-junction has been given extra time for the community to have their say.

After several months of meeting and gathering feedback with village businesses and affected residents in 2019, Kaipara District Council was accepting input from the wider community up to February 1, but have now extended the deadline to February 26 for feedback on how to improve the Insley-Moir Street-Molesworth Drive intersection.

Through the feedback received, roundabouts appear to be the favoured method of decreasing congestion at the junction, which council have incorporated into a proposed plan with work scheduled to begin mid-2020 after plan adjustments.

However the consequences of a roundabout means the removal of a large part of parking spaces around the village, possibly restricting access for many to the shops, library hall, and library and art gallery.

The extended deadline as well as new information is available for viewing on the Mangawhai Community Plan website 'to ensure people can see those changes and have a say', Mangawhai programme delivery manager Tim Manning says.

“We wanted to harness the influx of visitors over the summer break to get a diverse cross section of feedback on the proposed creation of the roundabout," he says. “Some really good points have been raised and we are now working with the designers to see if we can incorporate the key feedback.”

¢ To view information and to submit feedback visit kaipara.govt.nz/mangawhai-community-plan or send feedback to mcp@kaipara.govt.nz

Locals now have more time to make their views known to council about traffic issues at Mangawhai Village. A roundabout seems to be the favoured option. GRAPHIC/SUPPLIED