Milford Community.
How are you getting on? Sending you all warm wishes in this challenging time and wanted to share some updates with you.
From comments I heard yesterday, it appears everything has been quite orderly in Milford and people are taking heed of the unusual situation we have at present. I have been talking with many of our retailers so that I can provide our community with an accurate list of businesses for your ‘essential supplies’.
A full list of businesses open at Level 3 in now on the Home page
THE MILFORD CENTRE PLAN 2015 – 2045
We are going to have a lot more time spent at home. To those who are not aware of this plan, I suggest, that if you want to know what is planned for Milford over the next 25 years, read the above plan and familiarise yourself with it. It’s on our website under ‘About Us, Our Future’
The Vision statement reads:
A high quality and accessible centre expressing a strong local identity, with its own story and a friendly, relaxed community heart’“
At a recent meeting held by WEEPS about the water quality in the Wairau Estuary and Milford beach, one of the people in the audience commented that maybe it was his own fault that he didn’t know about how bad it was as he hadn’t got involved in any local organisations.
Well, this is so true! If he had been a member of the Milford Residents Association (MRA) (cost $10/member, $20/family) he would have been aware back in 2013/14, that Peter Carter lead a group of all local organisations interested in the concept, on a ‘ground up’ plan of what they would like to see in Milford over a 30 year period.
The concept was so successful, that council’s North/West planning team, who had a small gap in their schedule, were able to pick up the working groups ideas and transform them into the Milford Centre Plan (MCP) you see today – virtually unabridged.
The local board at the time, applauded the nature of community leadership, and signed it off. Within the plan, are ACTIONS and which entity is to carry it out. Most of the actions the business association and MRA had to do in the 1st 5 years have been actioned, but many council ones have not.
And this is where I come back to the point made by the gentleman in the WEEPS meeting. Because he was unaware of the MCP, he was also unaware, that addressing the water quality in the estuary was one of the ACTIONS that had to be addressed in the 1st 5 years of the plan. And it had started – investigations found that it was not going to be a simple fix.
The Wairau Estuary boardwalk project is also in the 1st 5 years actions and again, the MRA and the business association have worked hard to ensure it comes to fruition. The plans are due to be adopted soon by the local board.
Other key points in the plan include:
A number of detailed walks around Milford highlighting our history
Changes to the form of the main street of the shopping centre to make it more pedestrian friendly
Enlargement of the Village Square, making it the central point of Milford
This year the business association will be putting a submission into the local board that the following 3 key items area funded:
Wairau Estuary Boardwalk
Water quality in the estuary & beach addressed
Walkways repaired and signage added
All these items are Actions in the 1st 5 years of the plan and we’re in that 5th year now!
So check out your rates bill, think about how much of it has been spent in Milford over that last 5 years and if you are, like myself, unhappy with the lack of local spend, write a submission supporting the 3 items and reference it back to the MCP – a plan approved by our local board!
CLICK HERE TO OPEN THE MILFORD CENTRE PLAN
SECURITY UPDATE
Our goal is to look after our town centre and our people. You may be interested to know that I have confirmed with our security company, MATRIX SECURITY, that they will be continuing with their random checks of our town centre throughout the self-isolation period. I have put up 100 stickers on shop front windows and the rear of premises, adding to the many from other security companies or individual businesses. This is what they look like:
The police have also been in contact with me and they have scheduled patrols around the town centre during this period of self-isolation, plus contact numbers have been exchanged. We are one of the few town centres to have patrols at night as we work together to look after our community.
Remember: Tough times happen, but Milford is full of tough and amazing people, so together we can do this!
EMAIL, NEWSLETTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM OVER THE NEXT 4 WEEKS
Keep in touch with milford shops via our social media channels:
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MilfordShops/
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/milfordnz/
website: www.milfordshops.co.nz
If there are any other matters you can contact me, Murray Hill: manager@milfordshops.co.nz