Letters to the editor: Don’t let our little town decay, there are options

Central Tauranga. Photo / NZME

Our troubles in the old harbourside shopping centre that you still erroneously refer to as the CBD are not unique.

The world has changed and none of us are quite sure how to deal with it.

Over the past 20 years we have seen countless blockages of our streets and parking availability disappear while, at the same time, the rents and rates increases have killed any chance of profitability for the retailers.

We should rezone the stricken area and allow many of the empty shops to be turned into living accommodations.

In this way, we would have a living inner city that could become a hub of joy for many years to come.

This isn’t a radical proposition and I feel sure that there would be difficulties to be faced but it would be foolish of us to allow our pretty little town to decay any longer when there are other options.

Richard O’Brien

Katikati

Let downtown breathe

Downtown Tauranga’s greatest asset is the Strand and its waterfront. In my view, our city lacks vision as it wants to fiddle with Willow and other streets being one-way.

Make the Strand from Devonport to Hamilton streets a pedestrian mall, like during the Jazz Festival.

Open Mid-city Mall to allow motorists to flow into Spring, Willow, and Grey streets. It’s called traffic flow.

The Strand is our main hospitality area and a terrific outdoor space that should be used more.

Let downtown Tauranga breathe, rather than choking it to death.

Jim Sherlock

Tauranga

Wharf St keeps changing

It is interesting to see that Tauranga City Council wants to make Wharf St one-way only.

I have lost count in the last 10 years of how Wharf St keeps changing. It was two-way, then one-way, then no traffic like Eat Streat in Rotorua. I wonder how much ratepayers have to pay at every change.

Also regarding the roundabout at Elizabeth and Grey St – I have a medium-sized car and cannot go around it unless I mount the roundabout. I even saw a mini the other day whose driver had to go on the roundabout to get around it.

Wendy Galloway

Ōmokoroa

Our district has been badly let down

In the early 1950s our family lived on a farm near Waihī Beach. My father was chairman of Tauranga County and also on the No 3 District Roads Board.

It used to take two hours to drive to Tauranga on a long narrow windy gravel road. A major upgrade was undertaken and by 1958 the time was down to less than one hour.

So we have gone backwards ever since under successive governments, and no-one really allowed for the intensification from dairying to horticulture.

This scenario has become worse in the past 12 years and more so when the Labour government was elected and canned the Tauranga Northern route works.

Those affected locals who voted either Labour or Green should seriously consider their position for the next elections in 2026.

Our district has been badly let down and yet they proceeded with a fancy highway north of Wellington which was not even tolled.

Bill Capamagian

Tauranga

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