Important site needs planning

It's been a long time coming.

The announcement yesterday on the former Napier hospital site was not before time.

For years, the old hospital has been a decaying white elephant on one of the choicest pieces of real estate in the city.

Some in Napier may still be smarting about the loss of the hospital to Hastings but that debate is long over. The focus now needs to turn to what will be built in its place.

We're yet to hear details on what buyer the Todd Property Group has planned for the site but, based on its other projects in Auckland and elsewhere, we can safely assume it will be a residential development.

What many residents will be nervously waiting to find out is how big and how intensive that development will be.

Whatever the case, the 5ha Napier Hill site is too important not to do right.

It is the most significant and prominent piece of land to become available for redevelopment on Napier Hill for many years.

It's visible from all around the city and the removal of the existing hospital buildings will significantly change the skyline. We need a quality, well-planned development in their place. But we also need to get on with it.

The other significant vacant site on the hill, the former Hukarere College site on Napier Terrace, has been tied up in legal knots, leaving the land vacant and the house derelict.

The hospital is also an eyesore and has been that way for long enough. Let's see something modern, attractive and well-designed in its place.