Arty seats, free Wi-Fi and a sister-city relationship with another Cromwell are three things on the wish list for the Cromwell & Districts Promotions Group.
The group is responsible for attracting people to the Cromwell basin to live, work and play.
Each year, the group applies for funding from the Cromwell Community Board's promotions grant.
Group chairwoman Janeen Wood said they created a wish list of items they wanted, then discussed possibilities with the community board.
One of the new items on the list was art in public spaces.
A report by the group submitted to the Central Otago District Council said there was a lack of seating or art installations along the town's greenways, which discouraged people from spending time there.
It suggested commissioning interesting seating - Ms Wood said there could be a tulip seat by a garden or an apricot seat to complement Cromwell's Big Fruit Reserve.
''Rather than an ordinary seat, you could have a pencil seat by a school,'' she said.
Free Wi-Fi in the mall was also an option to bring people into the town.
Ms Wood said it would have to have limits, so people were not ''bunking down in the mall''.
They were also discussing a sister-city relationship with a town in Connecticut called Cromwell, which has a population of about 14,000.
Ms Wood said the group had not contacted the American town yet; they had only made a suggestion to the board.
Community board chairman Neil Gillespie said although the board appreciated these ideas, they did not fund them through the promotions fund, and suggested the group apply for funding through the council's long-term plan.
This year, the group's total funding request was more than $55,000 over the community board's total promotional grant of $106,219.
At the community board meeting last week, the group received $88,500 in total funding, an increase of $6100 from last year.
It received $22,000 each for a media manager contractor and a community relationship manager contractor, an increase of $2000 each from last year.
Ms Wood said the contractors worked 15 hours each a week. They received $6000 for the second annual Light Up Winter event, $2000 less than last year, and $4000 each for the Cherry Festival, to be held in December, and Street Party and Fireworks, to be held in November.
The group asked for $7440 for a funding and consents manager but did not receive it.
Ms Wood said although the group did not receive all the requested funding, she was still thankful for the board's ''great feedback'' and was pleased they gave more than last year.
