Opotiki District Council hase been running a successful pop-up shop in the town centre for several years now and this year it will feature regular information and talking points such as the sewer upgrade and civil defence.

Some new topics such as flood protection and how they can make some of the roads around Opotiki safer will also be up for dicussion.

Opotiki Mayor John Forbes says the pop-up shop is always popular and provides an opportunity to engage directly with the community.

'Council makes as many staff available over that period as possible so things can be discussed right there and then.

"We genuinely appreciate this sort of interaction – for a Council to best serve its community, it needs to know what a wide range of people are thinking and what they see is working and what isn't."

This year there will be regular displays including the District Plan, emergency preparedness, fundraising for Te Tāhuhu, and progress on the harbour development (including some big charts with timelines for construction).

There will also be some new information and people available.

'This year, we have a couple of new things to discuss. One is always a hot topic and that is flood protection.

"Opotiki locals are well aware that a big chunk of their rates goes towards providing the stopbanks and other scheme assets. So we have experts joining us from the Regional Council to talk about river schemes and what we need to think about for the town's future," says John.

'We are also being joined by some central government people who are seeking local knowledge and feedback to help upgrade a couple of key routes in the area – Wainui Road and SH2.

"These areas have been selected as part of central government's ‘Safer Roads' scheme. But before they carry out any road safety upgrades, they want to make the most of local knowledge to get it right. So if you use those roads often, please come and share your knowledge at the Pop Up Shop."

Bay of Plenty Regional Council's Engineering Manager, Mark Townsend, will be at the pop up shop and is looking forward to the opportunity to discuss the river schemes with Opotiki locals.

'Council is in an interesting position as we need to be prudent with public money and make long term plans for towns like Opotiki. This planning needs to take into account the longer term impacts of climate change, sea level rise and so forth. We need to carefully consider our options and the sort of pressures put on our stopbanks in the future.

"I am looking forward to talking these things through with people who are interested in the Optoiki district."

Members of the public are invited to come along and share their thoughts and talk to council staff about any Council activity.

'This is a great opportunity to see all the different Council activities under one roof and speak to staff face to face. I encourage people to come to town and have a catch up," says John.

The Pop-up shop will be in the old Fancy That Café shop at 103 Church St this Thursday and Friday .