Jo Davies-Colley speaking at the Anzac Day commemorations. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
With the popular and meaningful Anzac Day commemorations over for another year, the Cambridge Community Board is setting its sights on our dream of a new library and community hub.
The board imagines a library and community hub that is welcoming, inclusive, vibrant, modern, serves all members of the community and weaves the stories of mana whenua and cultural heritage into the very fabric of the building. With agile environments and a variety of work, reading and meeting spaces, there will be a space for everyone to learn, gather, connect, rest and play. More than just books, we imagine Cambridge library to be a modern facility connecting community services to our most used public asset and serving the community better than ever before.
We have presented our library strategic priority to council; you’ve seen it written about in this column and now it’s time to put our action plan into play. We cannot wait to hear what your dream for a new library and community hub is. Over the next few months, you will see community board members out and about asking for your thoughts about a new library and community hub. We will be at community events, children’s programmes at the library and book clubs. We will be partnering with mana whenua and focusing on speaking with community groups, senior citizens, parents, Plunket and disability organisations.
We want to gather as much evidence of the community’s need and desire for a new library and community hub so we can present a great body of evidence in our submission to council’s Long-Term Plan. The Long-Term Plan is a document which sets the direction for the district and is formally reviewed and updated every three years. It describes the activities of council and shows the whole picture of how the activities are managed, delivered and funded. It is our hope and goal to see a new library and community hub provided in the 2024-34 Long Term Plan.
Keep an eye out for our survey that we will be circulating soon, this will be a great opportunity for you to tell us your thoughts.
The board has started thinking about organising a Matariki event for the July celebration. We would like to hold an event that all of the community can be involved with and celebrates the wonder of Matariki. What kind of Matariki celebration event would you like to see in Cambridge? We would love to hear your thoughts.
We are also focusing on connecting with our rural community and are planning a Community Board rural tour for the last two Saturdays in May. We will be accompanied by district councillors and Waipā District Council staff, and we are looking forward to connecting with many of the rural communities around Cambridge. I will include details of the tour in my next column.
A reminder that our monthly meetings have a public forum and if you have any issues that we could help with, we would love to see you there.
Anzac Day
