Makeover plea for Helensville

The second in a series of reports from five towns covered in the Rodney Times Diamond survey, which canvassed residents’ views of their places. The towns are Warkworth – Rodney Times June 4, Helensville, Wellsford, Whangaparaoa and Orewa.

Helensville is fiercely proud of its heritage and community and people responded thoughtfully to the survey.

The villas and gracious buildings of its heyday still grace the town, but the comments reveal a feeling that the town has been neglected and it’s about time it got a fair go.

The lack of jobs is seen as a key weakness for residents and of particular concern for the prospects for youth. Helensville’s Diamond ratings show clearly that workability gets the lowest scores, only between three and four out of 10 across the board.

People feel the lack of investment in water and sewerage has constrained growth during the years. Also the river has been undeveloped, and the college has never grown.

Liveability rates quite high for all age groups.

People love the history and heritage and the strong community.

One person said: "It’s a small rural community with a sense of belonging, people are pro-active, there are lots of community groups, and a wide age range".

Another comment was: "It’s a fantastic community of volunteers – scratch the surface and discover the gold".

The over-60s tend to rate visitability’ highly, no doubt thinking about the many attractions that Helensville and the area have for the visitor.

Investability results are also quite strong, showing the potential for growth in a heritage town that now has good rail access to Auckland.

On the other side of the ledger, Helensville is seen as having some worrisome weaknesses.

While the core community is strong, there real concern about the rising crime and the nuisance rate perpetuated by youth.

Vandalism, underage drinking, gangs and graffiti have been increasing. Some people blame Housing New Zealand’s policies for some negative effects. There is a concern that policing is inadequate, especially at weekends.

The second concern is that the town desperately needs a makeover. The need for beautification of the main street was mentioned by several with a request to make it pedestrian friendly and add new toilets.

As one person said: "The whole uptown area looks tired, unkempt, and in the case of the dairy factory – derelict."

The reputation of the town is an issue. Comments were made that Helensville residents feel like the poor cousin in Rodney. One Helensville resident resents "the bad rap it gets from people who do not know the town – don’t judge a book by its cover.’

Overall the impression from the survey is that the people of Helensville love their town but feel that it is time for some of the neglect of the past to be reversed.

For the detailed survey results for Helensville, visit www.rodney.govt.nz/mycommunity or contact Nick Marsh at nick.marsh@nextcorporation.net; www.nextcorporation.net. Dr Nick Marsh, is a director of NEXT Corporation, strategic foresight researchers and facilitators.

Survey points

Liveability was defined as how attractive the place is for a family. Things to consider were entertainment, outdoor leisure, crime, safety, schools, people, the landscape and accessibility to beaches.

Workability asked respondents about the availability of work and the opportunities and vocational education available for young people.

Investibility covered the attractiveness of such things as buying a house, commercial and economic development prospects and the environment.

Visitability asked the question of how attractive the area is for visitors and the level of support services such as accommodation.