Your correspondent (Letters, May 1), appears to be away with the fairies. Prudence does indeed mean exercising good judgement - and the economic statistics for our region confirm just such.
Further, it's difficult to deny that maintenance of local infrastructure is not happening.
Everywhere you look, work is underway. Rates, of course, seldom go down, but rates are the price paid for the above (good judgement and maintenance).
If revitalising the CBD and equating economic success with our city is a fairy tale, I'd rather that than a rewrite.
I recently learned about the Special Housing Area subdivision at 31 Ngongotaha Rd. This has apparently already been endorsed by the council, and is now awaiting Minister for Housing and Urban Development sign-off.
While I am fully in favour of more affordable housing, 190 in one condensed area sounded warning bells, so I went online to learn more.
All I could find were newspaper articles featuring a vague map with the promise that the estate will include a park. That's simply not enough information.
We need to see a development that gives people quality homes while benefiting Ngongotaha.
It could be an opportunity for the developer and Rotorua Lakes Council to be innovative, inspirational and forward thinking.
Gather together some bright and creative minds – architects, landscapers, social planners, traffic planners, community development professionals – to create an affordable housing precinct that is a model for New Zealand; let our little community shine as an example of what could be.
The alternative could be 'estate' housing as in the UK – with all the social problems that come with it.
Ngongotaha could be a really awesome little town, buzzing with cultural creativity to complement its picturesque surroundings. Or not. If this development does proceed, we need to get it right. [Abridged]
