Residents of Nelson’s Nile St are alarmed by the way the city council is pushing through a plan to build high-density housing on Bett Carpark next to Cathedral Hill, saying it has failed to consult them or the wider community.
Their concerns, put to the council’s commercial subcommittee on Thursday and also discussed at the governance committee later in the day, have set the scene for a stoush at the full council meeting on Thursday June 2.
It emerged on Thursday that Mayor Rachel Reese is the only elected person to have yet seen the proposed development for the site, but the council is still likely to vote on whether or not to sell it to a developer next week.
But because of the commercial sensitivity of the plan the public isn’t going to get a look ahead of the sale decision.
It’s a course that had several councillors scratching their heads – and provoked comments which prompted a lecture from a clearly annoyed Reese.
In recent weeks the council has been battered by repeated suggestions that it has rammed through the Greenmeadows Community Centre plan without giving Stoke residents sufficient say.
With similar accusations flying, it’s now possible that the Bett decision will be delayed until a second full council meeting on June 16, with councillors to be briefed on the time constraints around that when they meet next week.
The urgency has come about because the deadline for Special Housing Area (SHA) resource consent applications is September this year. The council owns the carpark and wants to be developed it for housing in line with its policy to encourage inner-city living. It sought expressions of interest in March.
But SHAs are not subject to the usual public notification and consultation processes and this is what has upset the mainly longterm residents on the other side of Nile St East.
One of them, Lincoln Mackenzie, said they questioned why the site was included in the SHA process.
‘‘This is a draconian piece of legislation that sweeps aside many of the normal consent processes designed to ensure that developments meet good environmental, safety and social standards,’’ he said.
(The Nelson Mail, Friday, May 27th, 2016)
Some businesses on Queen St are concerned they might not survive the planned upgrade of Richmond’s main street, says Tasman District councillor Mark Greening.
The Richmond ward councillor raised the concerns at a meeting of the engineering services committee on Thursday when the detailed design of the project was presented. It is part of the five-year Richmond central infrastructure programme to replace pipework and improve stormwater management in the town.
TDC project manager Jeannie Homesley said the concerns were noted and that some businesses had been saving for the past two years in preparation for the likely disruption.
Greening said it was important to ensure it was clear those businesses affected by the staged work were still open. He suggested the council investigate what it could do to help including the possibility of letting some businesses open temporarily in another space, such as Sundial Square.
Homesley said the location of the businesses would be taken into account when the decision was made where to place a ‘‘construction box’’, behind which the work would be completed in sections.
Programme delivery manager Russell McGuigan said feedback from businesses had helped lead to the decision to stage the work, delaying the start of the most disruptive roadworks until February 2017, after the busy summer season.
(The Nelson Mail, Friday, May 27th, 2016)
A new salon for the whole family will open next week on Vanguard St.
The Cutting Bar is an initiative by Claire Chicken who is offering haircuts with no appointment necessary for the whole family.
Chicken said she wanted people to walk out with a ‘‘decent cut’’ but without spending too much money. ‘‘It’s just a place where everyone can come and get their hair cut,’’ she said. ‘‘The standard I want to keep high. It shouldn’t be a luxury, it should be something affordable that you can do.’’ The Cutting Bar opens on June 1.
(The Nelson Mail, Saturday, May 28th, 2016)
After owning the Life Centre in Stoke for six years, owner Brian Brown has put the business on the market.
The yoga/meditation centre has been on the market for a few weeks and will hopefully be sold to a ‘‘community focused’’ individual. Brown said he was moving to the Marlborough Sounds to start his next business – a lodge and yoga meditation retreat. Brown said it would be ‘‘ideal’’ if the next owner kept it within the community.
(The Nelson Mail, Saturday, May 28th, 2016)
"Three things cannot be long hidden:
the sun, the moon,
and the truth.
Buddha