I think a rollerskating rink with an arcade and cafe would be great for all ages. It could be used in all seasons and have more than one option of activity in the same place. During the day while kids are at school there could be roller exercise classes for adults and tiny tots classes. The venue could be hired out for parties and team-building events. Something for everyone.

I wish that there was more places for youth to hangout, that is not McDonald's or a children's playground. We need more outdoor activities. Such as Pop-up fairs, drive in movies, and in general more things to actually do in matamata. Something else is I think would be great is activity's in matamata that focus more on the creative sides of things, such as art classes, art gallery's etc.

I wish that there was more places for youth to hangout, that is not McDonald's or a children's playground. We need more outdoor activities. Such as Pop-up fairs, drive in movies, and in general more things to actually do in matamata. Something else is I think would be great is activity's in matamata that focus more on the creative sides of things, such as art classes, art gallery's etc.

pride inclusive, shopping mall, community gardens (around town) better rubbish system, colour, free outdoor exercise venue, animal park, (dogs) Petting zoo, (may not be permanent) Playground revamps (fit for all ages)

pride inclusive, shopping mall, community gardens (around town) better rubbish system, colour, free outdoor exercise venue, animal park, (dogs) Petting zoo, (may not be permanent) Playground revamps (fit for all ages)

mountain biking , horse riding and motter cross friendly track.

shopping mall - kmart
picnic tables
mini golf by the oak trees
big kids park
bay wave
outdoor movie night
movie thearte
camping ground - dog friendly
starbucks
mobility scooter race
night market
frisbee golf course
resthome help weekly
pony rides

mountain biking , horse riding and motter cross friendly track.

paking ur mmomomomoo a

mountain biking , horse riding and motter cross friendly track

A public playground/park for all ages to enjoy.

An arcade to spend time at

not enough for kids to do - would be awesome to have a bowling alley or mini putt

I come into Matamata for work. There is not enough for the youth to. A cinema complex or something similar is missing. Nowhere for the kids to meet other than McDonalds or the skatepark. A cinema similar to the one at Papamoa. A lot of people in my age group go there to watch movies. Some basic entertainment.

Things to entertain small children in the main streets so that the parents can enjoy themselves

Indoor sports centre well overdue.

Decent swimming pool where you can play a number of different sports. Lots of other smaller towns have decent indoor pools but not Matamata

We desperately need a cinema back. Families and youngsters have to drive out of town.
If it was possible we need a better shopping centre - all we have are cafes and real estate., People have to go out of town.

Ice skating rink or a roller skating rink please! Utimate frisbee course. Drive in cinema. Outdoor gym machines like in Cambridge.

Indoor, all year swimming pool with water play

Destination Playground for all ages

Natural play areas

Bush walks

Bike Skills Park and better bike paths

Eat Street / Pleasant environment for outdoor dining

Shopping.

We leave Matamata every Sunday for Tauriko/The crossing.
Pak n save for groceries and all the shopping/movies.

Community garden; done by volunteers or council

I'd love in door movies at Matamata

It would be nice to have somewhere quiet to rest on a break; I also would like something in town to feel more connected and welcome as a Māori resident

Art and culture, there is so much that could be emphasised in Matamata.

I am work in McDonald

Well, I can't see a place on your website about how to contact your project: I wonder if you are open to a formal process of consultation with the Matamata Historical Society volunteers? I am not a committee member but have been asked about this; my email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We are missing an area for our children. There is nothing in town for them. Other towns have destination
Playgrounds, pump tracks, mountain bike tracks (for the whole family) and dirt jumps. The community skate park is run down and doesn’t have a half pipe. The BMX track is unusable as there is no up keep. Why do we spend so much on statues and one way streets when we have nothing for our youth?

What’s missing is an indoor space for kids to hang out. If it’s raining there’s nowhere. Nowhere to have a birthday party and nowhere to safely hang out for young people. It can lead to kids doing some more risky and secret things. It would be great to have an arcade lazer tag. cinema. juice bar. Roller rink. Indoor bowls. Jump gym. Chick monks. Etc :)

We need a destination playground for children - the playground we have is definitely less than average.

Also build the atmosphere in the central town and take a leaf out of Greytown’s book - make it a destination town.

Get rid of the heavy trucks through town.

Vibrant playgrounds and a safe cycling network.

A better more interactive park for the children. Cambridge have multiple amazing parks for our children, where as matamata has 1 okay playground. Why are we not investing more into making Matamata an enjoyable place for our children

Family friendly places to meet up and socialise. Decent playgrounds for children of all ages. Events - food trucks and free live local music etc.

We leave town for a more toddler friendly playground, we find in Matamata that the playgrounds don't have a more interactive based play, and less of a variety for those between 5-10 years old.
Matamata businesses is a majority of hospitality industries, and the clothing stores available are more for an "older" generation therefore clothing stores that are for a "younger" generation are quite pricey sports stores or your average warehouse clothing and the only option for decent affordable clothing is only posties and community opportunity stores. (That is a personal opinion) however I do find myself having to travel out of matamata to be able to get clothing for myself/children or partner at more affordable prices in a town that could be upto an hour away.
Also growing up in Matamata as a "young teen" there was never anything or anywhere to escape to other than a park or the skate park that neither really had my attention nor did it keep me occupied in a sense that would benefit my future or time beneficially. I found that with nothing in our town that gives our younger generation the urge to be out of the house or off a screen and be part of the community, the only thing to be part of is unfortunately negativly influence, (i.e; theif, drugs, smoking, alcohol ECT. At a very young age) we need something in our town that is more interactive, more encouraging towards the future or just something to keep young minds busy, active, and just simply out there. I have noticed in this town that there has been opportunities implemented that never really lasted long or were to expensive for a child or parents to afford (i.e; Escape rooms, cinemas, mini-Minigolf, ECT). We need something in this town for kids to be more productive and proactive with their young creative minds to thrive on or just keep them busy and out of trouble.
I feel as though this town focuses more on tourist and travelers coming in and out of matamata which makes sense because we are a "quick pass by" town which explains why there is so much hospitality but there is barely anything in this town for those who are actually here. There is nothing in our town that actually stands out and makes people think "Wow let's go to Matamata" unless your coming for hobbiton but let's be honest once you have done that once there is a rare occasion that you do it again. Yes our town has a wide variety of older generation whom are retired and classed as upper class but there is still Alot of people in this town who can only 'just' afford to live here that do wish there was more to get out of the house, go down the road and Something is there but unfortunately there isn't much and if there is it is not really affordable. I've done every walk in this town, I've been to every park in this town, I've been a customer in every store in this town, I've even been a worker in some hospitality industries in this town and yet I still wish this town had more, For families, for children, for teens and just for the average person, I wish there was more because this town has so much potential it just hasn't reached it.

The people

After school activities (dance, music, swimming, sports) Library, Pools, Shops (supermarkets, warehouse, op shops) Greenery

how friendly everyone is
the food shops
everything in walking distance

every body is very friendly and welcoming. it's a nice small town with a lot with greenery.

Mcdonalds, KCF.

I love how its easy to walk around the town center.

I like how clean the community is and is a safe place to live in

It is a really cool community. I am originally from Auckland, you could bump into someone there and nothing would be said. People of Matamata would stop and help you if you drop something. There is more of a community atmosphere in Matamata. It's a nicer environment to live in.

I love the small town vibe

We have a great community and a brilliant community paper.
Broadway is very well kept and I love the horse.

The flowers on the main street. Mainly independently owned stores and restaurants.

Library

Lots of small parks for a picnic (Neil Algar, Cent Dr, Tom Grant Dr, Founders, Firth Reserve

Market

A lot of it is around family ties, connection, being born and bred in the town

Family ties

I like the clean the public toilets in Hētana St

I like that there is a community feel. It does feel like it has a small town where everyone knows everyone.

The community, if anyone hears about anything your going through or struggling there is always someone that will show up at your door step to drop off food, drop off clothes, give hugs or just comes to support you and gives you a shoulder to cry on or a listening ear

We love Centennial Drive (as pedestrians/on bikes with the kids), the Scooter park at MM Primary, and the Hauraki Rail Trail - really wish it was easier to get to from within Matamata though.

Centennial Drive - but I wish it was for pedestrians only. And I wish it could be revitalized to include beautiful picnic and meet up spaces, community bbqs and so on.

Lots of trees and plants

you could make the Horse Statue a fountain.

Something for ages 13-18 to hang out or have a warm drink away from adults

move the skate park so its not close to the train track. make it bigger and more vibrant e,g add professional graffiti and lods of colour to make it more inviting.

shopping
food places

My favorite idea after I was brainstorming is a Family friendly mountain biking, horse rising, and walking trails/tracks. It would be quite cool if there was a farm that gave up some area to make trails and a area to ride your motorbikes, mountain bikes or go for a bush walk.

My favorite idea after I was brainstorming is a Family friendly mountain biking, horse rising, and walking trails/tracks. It would be quite cool if there was a farm that gave up some area to make trails and a area to ride your motorbikes, mountain bikes or go for a bush walk.

outdoor movie (drive in movie) live bands and music

outdoor movie (drive in movie) live bands and music

Start by cleaning up the areas/footpaths outside the shops, especially the side of Dks an along, has anyone actually looked down, it all needs a major clean

Fruit trees such as plums, lemons and limes etc. planted around the town, potentially on the Tower Road walk or Peria Road. They could be used by people walking by for eating or cooking; another idea is to have adult exercise machines placed around the town or on walk tracks

I would like those cute little musical instrument all down the main streets so that kids can have something to be entertained with, play with and give you a reason to go into the town centre.

Ban smoking along broadway outside cafes, bars and restaurants.

I would like to see heavy traffic banned from using Broadway. It's extremely hard to conduct any sort of professional business over lunch or a coffee with trucks blasting through town.

Night markets, events like scavenger hunts. Instead of cows in Morrinsville; Matamata could have horses.

I hope that we will have a weekly night market where people can enjoy different food/ food trucks, handmade crafts and arts from locals and also live music /entertainment.


Also more events and activities for the family such as drive in movies etc.

The shelters, overhanging shelters for people to sit down to shade people when it is hot, where family and friends can hang together. Where the info centre is where people can gather, activities at the railside at the green. I like the idea of the outdoor movies and more activities around the Māori community. Integrate together

Something culturally; especially the Māori culture who I think get dismissed a bit. They were creative thing in Hētana Street but the community didnt understand it

A story walk such as the temp one done in Centennial Drive but a more permanent one

I really like the free water parks, nothing big i.e. small fountains for the kids to run through

There definitely needs to be more events, even a night market. There is a night market on the weekends but not a lot of people go. Maybe if they have live music or food stalls for families.

A modern covered court yard, with eating places..... A small mall would be good too..... The flower gardens in the main street are beautiful and really make our town look great. Some of the paths, outside some of the shops on the main street, are dirty with food and drink spilt outside, they could do with a wash down, and empty rubbish bins on main street regularly.

Matamata needs a new playground for our children. Destination playgrounds similar to some of the smaller ones in Hamilton would be fantastic. It would encourage more people to stop when passing through, or people would travel to visit. It would give the local families some thing to do in town and create a social hub.

Prohibit heavy trucks from travelling along Broadway. They can carry on along SH27 to the intersection with SH29 to get to Tauranga, Rotorua, and SH1. We have been told that when the motorway past Hamilton is finished all the trucks will go that way. Yeah right! A lot of the trucks like logging trucks are originating closer to Matamata so we will still see them passing through our CBD

Property next to gull service station overgrown and cars all over it.Mangawhero Road. Firth St two vacant lots past short St. Weeds everywhere overgrown mess. These are streets entering our town. Need clean up. Been like it for years.

A really simple thing we could do to make the town centre more vibrant and beautiful would be to light up the trees that line the Main Street of broadway with fairy lights. It would look beautiful at night and hopefully encourage people to spend more time in the town centre at night time, attending our wonderful restaurants and supporting other local businesses.

A really simple thing we could do to make the town centre more vibrant and beautiful would be to light up the trees that line the Main Street of broadway with fairy lights. It would look beautiful at night and hopefully encourage people to spend more time in the town centre at night time, attending our wonderful restaurants and supporting other local businesses.

A coherent cycling/pedestrian network to encourage active modes of transportation, for those who can. Vibrant play spaces that feel like more than tickbox exercises.

A Youth Space

Youth Space is an inviting hub for teens to find inspiration, be creative, socialise and equip themselves with the tools and skills to help them live life to the full.

It’s a welcoming, safe, alcohol and drug free space young people aged 13-19 can call their own and hopefully keep them out of trouble.

a Youth space would be able to provide the following
- Furthering Skills , helping with C.Vs and finding jobs, courses or trades to get into

- a fully equipped kitchen where on selected days there can be either baking activities or cooking activities and further those life skills

-Create a youth Council a diverse committee aged between 13 - 24 years. They will be tasked with capturing and voicing youth perspectives to the Matamata Piako District Council (MPDC) and stakeholders. They also organise events and programmes that benefit young people and administer small grants. In short, they collaborate with MPDC and the community to create opportunities and positive outcomes for youth in Matamata

-The Space itself would also allow youth to be creative either musically or artistically, have a small library and an area for youth to relax and watch movies, this would also create a place where activities could be hosted for the youth by not only the youth council but the community to help guide young people and create opportunities for them.

-Having a Youth space would also provide opportunities for youth to get involved as volunteers in any local events that is created by Council, Chamber, Community groups etc. which would be a great way for youth to connect with the public

Matamata could benefit from a really well planned urban green space that acts as a central community hub. Matamata really needs a new updated playground, it’s an area that the town has been lacking in for many years, and the town is only growing and attracting more families. The green space should be planned to attract the whole family, with play equipment for all ages, including sports equipment for older kids, attractive seating for adults, sun shades, and open space to hold events.
A well planned urban green space will also have economic benefits for the town, as it could be a space to host pop up businesses such as food vans and personal trainers to earn income by setting up in the park, and providing valuable foot traffic to bricks and mortar businesses in the area.

Events, events, events, events... thats what makes a town or city come to life! Small events... big events.... for all ages for all demographics... sports.... arts.... music... festival... markets... I travel around NZ delivering events everywhere for councils and shopping centers... happy to talk

I think we need more for kids to do. Like in Hamilton with their amazing lake side park or in Stratford, Taranaki with their kids bike park area set up that has a road layout with traffic lights and roundabouts for kids to ride bikes/scooters etc on.