Letters: Our city is going places, says deputy mayor

NO DENIAL: Rotorua's growing, so get your head out of the sand, says Rotorua deputy mayor Dave Donaldson. Photo/file

In response to Neil Kennedy's letter (Letters, June 2), anyone who says Rotorua is not growing quite simply has their head in the sand.

The council is working with the most up to date information from Statistics New Zealand and agencies like the New Zealand Transport Agency.

Based on the latest Statistics New Zealand information the Rotorua urban area, we understand, will be upgraded in status to a medium growth area under the Government's National Policy Statement on urban development.

As a consequence of this change in status, the council has the responsibility to ensure land is available in the future for residential and commercial development.

Currently we are seeing our neighbours Hamilton and Tauranga, like Auckland, struggling to respond to unprecedented rates of growth and development.

As a council we firmly believe that it is imperative that we are well prepared and able to respond should Rotorua's rate of growth increase even further.

Planning and the provision of core infrastructure is one of the essential activities of the council. What we are doing in the spatial plan is simply looking to future-proof our district and in doing so avoid the loss of aspects of our district which we all hold important.

It is important we move quickly to complete our spatial plan in consultation with our community to support investment decisions like Te Ngae Rd.

ROTORUA DEPUTY MAYOR
Dave Donaldson

Rachel Stewart's article (Opinion, May 31) couldn't have put this matter better. The din coming over the public address system at Pak'nSave has us scurrying around to get our shopping done as quickly as possible, which can land us up forgetting something.

I have often said to other shoppers, "My goodness! Somebody does have an almighty bellyache." I usually get what I expect - a blank stare - because I'm very much aware that New Zealand is a philistine society.

Cafes are possibly the worst offenders in as much as most people surely go to these places to enjoy the company of whoever is with them while they eat, but you can't hear what your friends are saying because of the racket posing as music.

People therefore are forced to raise their voices, causing even more noise.

Rotorua is one of our main tourist centres and needs to be aware of the reaction of overseas visitors to something they probably don't encounter at home.

An English friend of mine who gets visitors from the UK has told me on at least two occasions the comments from these visitors about the noise is invariably uncomplimentary.

Often you can't walk down the streets without your ears being assaulted (and insulted).
New Zealand retailers are constantly complaining about the competition from overseas online vendors. What do they expect? I mostly buy online (even from New Zealand retailers) partly because the experience of shopping in a physical store is so unpleasant.

LARAINE A BARKER
Rotorua