The Selwyn District Council wants Rolleston residents to have their say about the future of the Rolleston Town Centre.

Rolleston is growing rapidly and Council staff say forward planning is essential to ensure the town centre caters for the increase in Rolleston’s population.

A brochure is being delivered to ratepayers next week to advise people of this project and to invite residents and others interested in the town to share their ideas about the future development of the town centre. Those ideas will help Council develop the Rolleston Town Centre Masterplan.

Strategy and Policy Planner Cameron Wood says the current town centre is dominated by large format retail and car parking with poor connections between them.

"The community, through the Rolleston Structure Plan, have told us that the centre does not have an identifiable heart and is not considered a key destination for people," he says.

Improvements to the town centre provide the opportunity to:

- Introduce a greater mix of uses to support the retail and community facilities that exist now

- Ensure good access and linkages both within the centre and to the wider town

- Develop a more pedestrian-friendly centre with a focal point for community gathering

- Make it distinctive from other towns in the district and a desirable place to visit.

Over the next 30 years it is expected that Rolleston will grow from around 8,000 people now to between 18,000 and 22,000 people. To plan for this growth and future initiatives, the Council developed the Rolleston Structure Plan in September 2009.

"As part of this plan, a series of options to improve the existing town centre were developed. A preferred town centre option was outlined and a master planning exercise was recommended to find out what the community wants in its town centre. However a lot of things have changed since then and we want the community, developers and the Council to work together to plan for the future of our Town Centre," Mr Wood says.

Areas included in the Town Centre Masterplan

The Masterplan study area has been split into six areas:

A. Area around Norman Kirk Dr including the Council buildings

B. Area to the north-east of Countdown

C. Current retail area around Rolleston Square

D. Current New World/retail/community centre/reserve and Tennyson St front on south-west side.

E. Residential area access from Markham Way

F. Reserve and residential facing existing retail centre

A seventh area will be considered for the possible location of big box retail (‘Area G’ - Rural zoned land along Jones Road and Hoskyns Road). Some areas have been included in the masterplan, i.e. ‘Area E’ because of their proximity to the town centre and the need to consider potential effects between residential and commercial uses.

The Council is hosting two drop-in events to gather ideas, on Wednesday, 19 September from 7.30 - 9pm and Sunday, 23 September from 1.30 - 3pm, in the Rolleston Community Centre lounge.

Alternatively people can visit www.selwyn.govt.nz/rollestontowncentre, post their thoughts at Facebook.com/FutureforSelwyn or call into the Rolleston library/service centre to pick up a feedback form.

Following the gathering of ideas, the Council will develop options for further public consultation toward the end of this year. A public hearing is scheduled for March next year, followed by preparation of the Masterplan for consideration by the Council in May next year.