DATE:
2009
LOCATION:
Taupo District, New Zealand
CLIENT:
Town Centre Taupo & Taupo District Council
Lake Taupo is a town of around 22,000 people, yet through its passion and belief in itself, punches way beyond its weight.
Village Well had the privilege to work in this stunning location to develop a vision and Place Making Road Map for the Taupo Town Centre in support of a Structure Planning process.
This project was catalysed by the pending construction of the ETA (East Taupo Arterial) highway. Once open, this bypass will shift the major traffic route away from the Town Centre. This traffic shift provides opportunity for reconnecting the Town Centre with the lake and its civic facilities, but also presents a challenge to ensure that travellers still stop at Lake Taupo, a town that relies on tourism for much of its economic success. In response, Town Centre Taupo (TCT) and Taupo District Council (TDC) asked for Village Well’s Place Making involvement to ensure Taupo retains its destinational status. Both TCT and TDC are inspirational in their collaborative and positive can-do attitude.
Village Well engaged with hundreds of community members through workshops and ‘Walk the Beat’ during a week long intensive. Workshops involved training the trader community in customer service, visual merchandising and green business strategies, as well as identifying the issues, opportunities and future visions for Taupo. Visioning workshops were also conducted with the Taupo District Council, Council officers and members of Town Centre Taupo and Destination Lake Taupo, who will together see the vision through to implementation.
This engagement process has helped the Taupo community to gain a greater understanding of its own identity, and how they would like to proceed into the future. Key outcomes include embarking on a range of catalyst projects that were generated by the community for the Town Centre.
Village Well would like to thank Kylie Cotter, Gareth Green, Hilary Samuel, Chris Johnston and Mayor Rick Cooper for their vision and dedication to transforming Lake Taupo into an even greater place for the community and its future.
