City centre revival starts with laneway open

The Owl, aka Jasmin Fisher-Johnson, left and The Mouse, aka Georgia-May Pope have plenty to look at as the Cameron St laneway opening unfolds.

It was a nostalgic opening for the new $2.8 million Cameron St laneway, as people reminisced about more prosperous times in Whangarei's CBD.

Councillor Phil Halse said the hundreds who gathered to check out the project at the street-party style opening reminded him of when he was a young man.

"We used to trawl up and down here a few times on a Friday night," he said, while Cr Shelley Deeming remembered how "if you had a particularly flash car" you would cruise Cameron St a few times on the weekend.

Cr Halse said he was "thrilled" with the end result of the project. He considered the opening a success and said it would be up to businesses to organise similar events in the future, though council would certainly support them.

The shared space laneway, which extended from the existing pedestrian mall into James St and another block along Cameron St to John St, was essential in linking the Town Basin to the centre of town, Cr Halse said.

The laneway removed the traditional distinction between footpath and road, with the expectation that pedestrians and drivers would co-exist peacefully.

Shirley James of Shirley's Photo Centre has been critical of the project for the disruption it's caused businesses. She said it was a relief to see it completed but thought it would take time for people to get used to the "shared" concept.

Over the road at Shanton, manager Tracey Cherrington said she was "very positive" about the project and loved the finished result.

"I'm very very happy. Yes there were people who were negative and yes it did slow down business (during construction). But look where we are now."

She said she had a customer from Tauranga who had stumbled upon the street party and questioned whether Whangarei was always so busy on a Friday evening.

"It's great for Whangarei, there's great ambience, and look at the turnout," she said.