The Chamber of Commerce chief Murray Douglas' theory of converting central city first floor space to residential is good in theory but he has not done his homework.
The HDC council has erected very substantial barriers in the form of change of use and planning and development levies which can amount to tens of thousands of dollars for a single dwelling which make it uneconomic to even consider Mr Douglas' good idea.
Mr Douglas has also failed to contact any of our local registered valuers to gain inner-city residential market knowledge. They would have told him about the glut of older type motel/hotel rooms in Hastings (caused by the Napier tourist accommodation building boom), which are now used for long-term residential accommodation with rentals as low as $175 a week for a two-bedroomed motel type unit.
Inner-city first floor converted to residential would need to obtain a rental of $350 a week minimum for a two-bedroomed modern apartment to be economic. A very small almost non-existent rental market exists at $350 a week.
The high economic rental is due largely to high HDC development levies set in the long-gone property boom and the earthquake strengthening now required in many of the older buildings to bring them up to the latest standards.
Add to that the high cost/risk ratio which builders price in to this type of redevelopment work (a lot can go wrong in these old buildings during their redevelopment), and you have a dead duck idea Murray Douglas. (Abridged)
Jon Philip SmithCEO Smith Group
City's layout poorSo Hastings Council cannot figure out what is wrong with their central city design. It is probably a shame that Hastings was not levelled by the 1931 earthquake too as this is what compressed the centre of Napier's retailing area, that and being restricted in growth by the natural boundary of Bluff Hill.
Many times I have taken visitors to Hastings to shop and when they find that the shop they want to go to is a mile south of their current position they decide to return to Napier where they can walk around the whole town laid out to much smaller scale.
When Hastings was laid out, it was with horses in mind and a long trek along Heretaunga St was not such a chore, some form of tram system that ran the length of Heretaunga St might just save the city from shopping oblivion.
Creating parks when there are insufficient toilets available is only going to lead to the sort of behaviour that retailers are having to put up with now, expecting the police to fix a problem made worse by the Hastings council's planning errors is not the answer.
Too often Hastings has become the butt of financial jokes like Splash Planet and the new big store retailing park, which is about as welcoming as the Syrian army.
Facing the truth that Hastings looks like an old American wild west clap-board town with one long street will be hard for some people but until it is and half the retail space is demolished to create a more user friendly shopping environment, that is what it will be seen as by visitors. W HicksNapierTreaty woesIt is 170 years since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Like Topsy, that simple inclusive document of three paragraphs has grown into a mystical volume of division ... something it never was.
There were two parties to that Treaty, not one. The last English draft from which the Maori Treaty came is of the greatest importance. That English draft clearly signifies the intent of the offer at Waitangi.
That final English draft, lost for 150 years, has recently been rediscovered. It matches the Maori Treaty neatly, but it doesn't match the English version being waved around courtrooms since 1975; forests or fisheries not being mentioned at all.
The Treaty was and is a simple, clear, frame of understanding. Constitution? No. Deed of divorce? Even less. It offered Maori, and everyone else, the same lawful protections that were the birthrights of the English settlers and the protection of property, customs and freedoms that went with that. Accept, or reject.
Hobson's last words, in Maori, to the signatory chiefs at Waitangi were: "Now we are one." He didn't say: "Now we are two partners." He didn't say: "Now you are tangatawhenua and we are tauiwi." "Now we are one." And no chief took issue with this.
To suggest that two separate divergent sovereignties would continue is ridiculous. Why would you have a treaty at all?Alan M. Rhodes NapierConcern at attack My cat Koko was the cat shot on November 9 last year with a slug gun.
I am writing in concern about all the cat shootings and that we are having to forfeit our fixed tenancy to move as we are worried about it happening again, which would also be another financial blow.
Koko is recovering thanks to Carlyle Vet Clinic, especially Michael Lintott for believing me when I said there was something majorly wrong with Koko on the night he was shot.
Also to the caring staff who have huge hearts and an understanding of the financial strain it has put on me.
Also thanks to the Napier police who helped me in this matter as well.
I don't know and can't understand why someone is doing this.
The public need to be made aware of this as it's major cruelty and sick.
I took on the responsibility when I purchased Koko as a kitten into our family to provide him safety and security - and when this happened I felt I had failed at this.
I wish a safe and speedy recovery to all the cats that have gone through surgery due to the same incident as myself. (abridged)Kahla HockingNapierBlast is not cricketHow to spoil what otherwise would have been a pleasant day at the cricket. (NZ vs Zimbabwe, McLean Park, February 9)
Keep blasting over-loud music directly into the grandstand. Over and over. Why do some of these events involve organisers who think the spectators need to be "entertained".
For me, the entertainment would have been the cricket match. I would have been happy with that but, unfortunately, I just couldn't sit through to the end of the game due to the music being pumped into the stand. I will give that a miss in future I think.Kelvyn StevensHastings
