Matamata Pride of Place Plan 2022
The ‘Pride of Place’ project is about re-imagining our town centres and how to shape them for the needs of our communities now and into the future. Last year our Pride of Place team popped up around Matamata to connect with people from all walks of life to understand your aspirations for your town centre.

We used ideas from the community to create the Matamata Pride of Place Plan 2022 to use as a guide as funds and resources become available. The plan outlines a range of small, fast initiatives that could help Matamata become an even more vibrant and inviting town centre.

Thanks to Transport Choices funding we have been able to quickly bring some of Matamata's ideas to life, including quality bike racks throughout the town centre, more places to refill water bottles and partnering with community groups to deliver a fun community summer event, Bike Day Out. We are working on delivering another small but effective Pride of Place project in Matamata by July 2024 – watch this space!

Bike racks
Earlier this year we installed quality Sheffield bike racks at Matamata isite on Broadway, Swim Zone Matamata on Meura Street, outside the Matamata-Piako Civic and Memorial Centre on Tainui Street and on Broadway outside Robert Harris café (see images below). The new bike racks suit the growing range and sizes of bikes and e-bikes, which are often bigger and have wider tires. The style of the racks enable cyclists to lock the frame, front and rear wheel of their bicycle, using chains, padlocks, cables or D-locks. We have also installed a self-service bicycle repair station outside Matamata isite with a handy set of tools to get you back on your bike.

Pride of Place makes refilling easy in Matamata
Through Pride of Place we also heard from the Matamata community that it would be great to have more places to refill water bottles when walking and biking around town - so we teamed up with RefillNZ to bring local businesses on board as refill stations. Some fabulous local businesses, including Merchant of Matamata, Eat Cafe, Robert Harris Coffee, Momento Espresso and Railside by the Green, are happy for you to come in with your water bottle and refill it any time - just look out for the sticker in their windows. 

Bike Day Out, Matamata Domain, 25 February 2023
Strong feedback from the Matamata community was for more community events and for it to be safer and easier to bike around town. With the support of Transport Choices, we combined the two and worked with local community groups to host Bike Day Out; an interactive morning of stalls, food, fun activities and the chance to test a temporary bike route through town with road safety coaches. It was great to have such a wide range of community groups and small businesses present and to see members of the community of all ages on bikes of all sizes, enjoying a great day out at Matamata Domain. 

Arawa St to Hetana St Laneway transformation
We are working with the community and business owner Sonya at Shed Boutique to transform the laneway connecting Arawa Street to Hetana St into a space Matamata can take pride in. As well as refurbishing the wooden fence, adding wayfinding signs and festoon lighting for vibrancy and safety, we plan to create a wall of local stories in the form of haiku. Do you want to be a part of the action? Enter our haiku contest and help transform the laneway into an attractive place for locals and visitors to wander and ponder while moving through our town centre. Visit mpdc.nz/haiku for more information.

Town centre social spaces
We are taking this underutilised area on Arawa Street and working with community groups to transform it into a little piece of Kiwi magic for locals and visitors to enjoy. The team will be back later this year to install a unique picnic table setting and brighten the area with fairy lights in the oak tree. We will pop updates about this project at mpdc.nz/prideofplace

Transport Choices
These Pride of Place Matamata initiatives are just one of seven transport projects across the district that has received funding from the Waka Kotahi's Transport Choices programme. You can see more about Transport Choices and the other funded projects over at mpdc.nz/walkbikeride

This project is one of seven funded from the $2.3 million Waka Kotahi Transport Choices funding package. 

Waka Kotahi Transport Choices programme - Transport Choices is part of the Government’s Climate Emergency Response Fund (CERF) that supports councils to begin immediate work to develop safer, greener and healthier travel options. 

We've taken feedback from the community and created a Pride of Place Matamata  Strategy and Action Plan  for Matamata's town centre. 

Strategic Direction Summary  Council has set its strategic direction to inform our priorities and work programme moving forward. The strategic direction aligns with the four community wellbeings – social, environmental, cultural and economic which are core pillars of local government’s mandate.