The Cromwell Community Board has approved the design and specifications for the first two stages of a multimillion-dollar town centre redevelopment, subject to agreement of affected private landowners.
At a meeting this week, board members Terry Emmitt and Gordon Stewart questioned whether people who owned land which would become part of the redevelopment had been kept in the loop.
Cromwell community facility officer Evelyn Bisset said a meeting invitation had gone out to 15 business or landowners but only two turned up.
Board member Helen Hucklebridge also questioned the proposed timing of construction.
In Mrs Bisset's recommendations to the board, construction on the first two stages of the redevelopment was to be completed by June 1, 2013, with starting dates in March and April. However, Mrs Hucklebridge said it was a busy tourist time for the town, and the board decided to move the start date back to the beginning of April.
Those first two stages include what Mrs Bisset called the "main gateway" to the town centre, for which $753,805 has been budgeted.
The area, the northern entrance to the town centre, will be landscaped as will the area around the Lode Lane public toilets.
The budget also allows for design plans and tender documents.
The reconstruction of the Lode Lane toilets is a separate project and is almost complete.
