Buzz grows around proposal for The Hive co-working space at Motueka

Wednesday, 7 February 2018

A group of business leaders will next week present a proposal for a new co-working and training space at Motueka.

Called The Hive, the concept is scheduled to be presented to the public on Wednesday at the AGM of Vision Motueka.

Team co-ordinator James Samuel said there had been tremendous support in the community for the proposal, which he described as 'a needle changer on the dial of Motueka well-being'. 

Samuel had a vision for the hub 'being a sustainable business in its own right, capable of supporting a flourishing Motueka community, through connections that can grow healthy community initiatives in a congenial environment'.

'While the co-working space is the major focus, the design will facilitate an easy flow between and within the different spaces,' he said. 'This will create ample opportunity for serendipitous bumps between people, with the potential of leading to unexpected and beneficial outcomes.'

With a possible High St location being explored, 'we now have numbers for floor space and costs to work with'.

'This is feeding into the next sprint, which is to create a budget and occupancy goals,' Samuel said.

The three primary activities for The Hive were:

* A retail walk-in enterprise at the front, such as a food business, an arts collective, a tourism business, or suchlike;

* a co-working space offering areas for long-term tenants, casual month-by-month users, as well as 'hot desks' for casual users and visitors;

* a technology training centre with a primary focus on youth training to provide qualifications in digital technology that were in demand.

'To help them go beyond sunshine wages,' Samuel said. 'To raise the bar in terms of what these young people can look forward to.'

Vision Motueka chairman David Armstrong encouraged people to attend the AGM 'and give your input into what is hoped to be an anchor for business and community good'.

The idea had been an ongoing consideration for Johny O'Donnell, Andrew Stephenson and Gabrielle Bell. The guest list for the discussion panel included Lani Evans, of Tasman District Council, Christine Donaldson, of The Bridge Street Collective, O'Donnell, Paul Morgan, Linda Glew, Jennifer Lund and Armstrong.

More information is available on 'The Hive - Motueka' Facebook page.

The Vision Motueka AGM is due to be held at the Memorial Hall supper room on Wednesday with drinks and nibbles from 7.15pm.