A new entrance off State Highway 8 is one of the proposals for revitalising Cromwell's town centre that were unveiled yesterday.
About 100 people attended a public meeting in the town last night to hear the proposals from urban design consultants Urbanism Plus, of Auckland.
Earlier in the day, about 50 Cromwell businesspeople listened to Urbanism Plus director Kobus Mentz outline the ideas.
He said a draft report would be available by the middle of next month, but no estimates had been prepared yet for any of the work.
"Councils never have enough money so what we've learnt is to take off a chunk at the top end [of the plan] and put forward the first four or five steps for budget approval," he said.
His report was based on consultation and workshops with residents and businesspeople about the town centre.
"You have a challenge ahead of you because of the vacancies starting to appear in the mall," he said.
There were several main steps to revitalise the town centre.
The first was improve its visual connection to Cromwell with better signs.
A more direct connection with State Highway 8 would also be an advantage, he believed.
A new entrance off State Highway 8, between Barry Ave and Sargood Dr, was the key in getting more visitors into the mall.
Of course, permission would have to be sought from the New Zealand Transport Agency.
Mr Mentz said if anchor businesses could be attracted to the town centre, they would also draw in more visitors.
Rezoning some of the surrounding land might be the answer to bringing in some national chains as anchor businesses, he said.
More seating in the mall was needed, better signs and more toilet facilities would be beneficial, he said.
Businessman Ross Hansen said he had once asked a tour-bus driver why tour buses bypassed the town and was told they were worried about "losing their passengers in the mall".
Moving the giant fruit sculpture closer to the mall was another suggestion for focusing attention closer to the town centre.
Cromwell Community Board chairman Neil Gillespie said the public would be consulted again before anything was decided or any funds committed to the plans.
The council's business development manager, Jonathan Gadd, said about $100,000 had been spent in the past two years on the town-centre redevelopment project.
"It's money very well spent if the community is happy with what we've come up with," Mr Gadd said.
