Whangamomona Republic working towards town revamp | Taranaki News | Local News in Taranaki

Whangamomona has been hitting the headlines lately with a mention in the recently published 'Lonely Planet Guide to Micro Nations', an article in the latest 'NZ Today' magazine, a feature in the Air New Zealand Link inflight magazine and a story on TV One's 'Close Up' last week.

It's a small town with a big heart and it is gaining a reputation among tourists and tourism writers as a place on the 'must see list'.

These hard-working, down-to-earth locals are proud of their small 'republic' and are working enthusiastically to ensure that their unique part of the world isn't lost.

Apart from organising the hugely successful Whangamomona Republic Day, which will be held on January 20, 2007, the Whangamomona Republic Committee are also looking to maintain and enhance some of the history of the town and have come up with some ideas for a town upgrade. Committee member Tania Bedwell said the group didn't want to lose the assets they have.

"Visiting Whanga is a unique experience for tourists and townies and we want to be able to keep that experience as authentic as we can."

The committee has come up with some ideas to develop the town, including better parking, new footpaths, hitching rails and troughs, landscaping and trees, a town clock, new lighting and a sculpture.

"What we have done is sought advice and expertise to help us come up with a plan so that we can start to look for funding. We have been working with the Stratford District Council, DOC, Transit and Powerco as well as local property owners and the Whangamomona community to try and come up with ideas that are workable and will really make the town look and feel authentic - as if you really are stepping back into the pioneer days when the town was born."

There are issues such as drainage and traffic flow which require expert advice and Stratford District Council officers have been supporting the committee by offering guidance and suggestions for the upgrade and developing some concepts for them to work with.

"There is no funding allocated to this upgrade in our Long Term Council Community Plan," said council Chief Executive, Michael Freeman.

"But we are able to offer support through the skills of some of our team here and we have continued to work with the Whangamomona community to provide assistance where we can." The locals are positive and have already had calls from outside the area from people who want to volunteer their time and expertise to help with the project. The plans and proposal should be ready to present to any potential funders by the end of the year.

"We are putting everything on our wish list and then we'll put out some proposals for funding to local and national funding organisations. Hopefully they'll be as enthusiastic about this project as we are and come up with some support," said Ms Bedwell.

Pictured are Whangamomona Republic Committee Members Shona Gower, Tania Bedwell and Vanessa Kennedy talk to Transit Area engineer Ross McCoy about their ideas for the Whangamomona upgrade along with Stratford District Council Roading Engineers Kim Jansen and Greg Jeffares.