Shopping around for allure

Contary to the headline in yesterday's Chronicle, free parking for motorists in the inner city is just an idea. And it's a good idea. It's the kind of thinking needed to figure out how to make Saturday shopping in the CBD more alluring.

Retail has it hard at the moment; people are cautious about spending and those who do shop can choose online retailers, bypassing traditional stores.

We want to keep shops open on a Saturday and have a bustling, vibrant downtown area. The Mainstreet organisation started 22 years ago to do just that. It pumped life into a moribund CBD with the help of the Retailers' Association. Their work has been remarkably successful and goes beyond the beautification of the CBD, which has received national applause and was copied all over the country.

The Whanganui River Traders' market has also been remarkably successful - as a place to buy and sell, a social hub and a destination for visitors. There has been some talk floating around that it should be moved to the afternoon or even Sunday.

But the market gives people connections as well as fresh greens and we shouldn't muck around with it.

Like the free parking idea, we need to think of ways to make the CBD better for weekend shoppers and perhaps link the two areas. Maybe free wi-fi along Victoria Ave or turning a particular large, empty space into a park and dog-exercise area.

Mainstreet, of course, is the expert in these kinds of ideas - it wrote the book.

The free parking will take $50,000 out of Wanganui City Council coffers and most suggestions will have costs. But with the Mainstreet and River Traders thinkers putting their heads together, innovative solutions will be possible.