A concept to turn Wharf Street into a themed dining precinct has been presented to council.

Mainstreet Tauranga presented the concept at a City Delivery Committee meeting yesterday to transform Wharf Street into a themed, dual-use dining precinct street that is pedestrian friendly.

Mainstreet Tauranga is proposing to turn Wharf Street into a themed dining precinct.

Mainstreet Chair Glenn Tuck says the concept has been developed in full collaboration with business and property owners in Wharf Street and has their support.

'This initiative is really about what the businesses in Wharf Street have been asking for, for some time,” says Glenn.

'Mainstreet Tauranga is now taking the lead to move this initiative forward, for the betterment of the street and the city centre.”

The proposed concept will see the street turned into a pedestrian-friendly dining precinct with a central pedestrian and vehicle access lane.

'The actual layout of the street is still in development,” adds Glenn, 'but in essence, the dual-use option allows us to ensure we can create a unique dining precinct, at the same time as ensuring we accommodate the need of businesses to function efficiently in terms of delivery vehicles and minimise city traffic disruptions.

'We are still in the development phase, so it is exciting to see it come to fruition and the initial format will be trialled and modified as needed before a more permanent option is considered for the street.”

Glenn says the Wharf Street concept will be rolled out in several stages.

'This initiative has great potential for the city centre,” he adds, 'but we want to make sure it is an inclusive and collaborative approach. How the street functions best, for the businesses in the street and the people dining there, will be something we can assess over time.

'We want to start with an initial concept and see how we can modify it for best use long-term.

'Street activations and precinct building are important initiatives for Mainstreet. It's a vital part of our work to substantially contribute to the revitalisation of the city centre.”

Glenn says this initiative signals Mainstreet's pro-active approach to developing key areas in the city with a strong theme that the public can enjoy and businesses can benefit from.

'Wharf Street is the natural environment for this dining precinct,” he adds, 'and we are excited to have such strong support for this initiative. Now the hard work begins in getting it up and running in the next few weeks.”