The invitation-only Monday evening meeting at the ODT InkBox at the Oamaru Opera House would focus on a review of the plans which met resistance when made public last month, Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said.
The plans could restrict vehicle access to the Victorian-era Harbour St.
The council’s November 30 meeting — at which a staged implementation of the plans was on the agenda — drew a full house to the public gallery: eight speakers aired both favourable and unfavourable views of the proposal to "pedestrianise" the tourist attraction.
A week before the meeting, a petition circulated among business people concerned about the possible effect of turning Harbour St into a pedestrian-only street during summer business hours, garnered 12 signatures and proposed four "alternative traffic-calming measures".
"We’ve got a good opportunity to make the place better and we just want to do everything we can to get that result," Mr Kircher said of the upcoming meeting.
"At the end of the day, we are going to make the best decision that we can. There will remain one or two that are ‘anti’, but we’ve got to make the best decision for everybody."
The council approved a $60,000 budget for roading, pedestrian and parking improvement work in the precinct and also decided to meet the area’s business people to "further refine" the plans. The mayor indicated at the meeting that some of the proposed changes to the Victorian Precinct could go ahead: the council’s roading network manager’s report to the council showed a 30kmh temporary speed limit, time-restricted parking and new parking areas as priorities in the historic corner of town.
Mr Kircher said this week the council had always intended to hold the meeting scheduled for Monday, but as it had not been formalised before the council published the report on the concept plans "people felt aggrieved" by the proposal to close Harbour St to vehicles. At the November 30 meeting, the council decided any "permanent part-time closure of Harbour St" would require a council vote.
