Redesign considered for ram-raid-ridden end of Napier’s Emerson St

Napier City Council is considering a redesign of the westernmost end of Emerson St, which has recently been plagued with ram-raids. Photo / Paul Taylor

Napier City Council is considering a redesign of the westernmost end of Emerson St, which has recently been plagued with ram-raids.

Three of the four ram-raids which occurred in Napier over two weeks in January took place on Emerson St alone, with one at the Cosmic vape store on January 11 and two within three days at King of Swords on January 23 and 25.

Some business owners have criticised the 2018 decision to remove a number of the hexagonal seats along the street, claiming they would have discouraged ram-raiders by making it difficult to drive through the front of stores.

Peter Bailey, owner of Life Pharmacy on the upper end of Emerson St, said the hexagonal benches were large and sturdy.

“You can’t drive through them.”

As he spoke, Bailey said he could spot people sitting on all the hexagonal seats in sight outside along the street, proving they were well-used and popular.

“They were quite good benches, people could sit on them while shopping.”

David Hannay, an owner of King of Swords, has been chronicling his decision to camp out in the store in a series of social media posts over the last nine days while waiting for planters to be installed outside the store again.

Hannay declined to comment for this story.

A Napier City Council spokeswoman confirmed the council was looking at redesigning the westernmost end of Emerson Street - also known as the lower end and close to where King of Swords is located - this year.

The spokeswoman said the redesign had been considered for a while, but the council had not begun design work yet.

“When it does [begin], key stakeholders will be engaged with. When there is a proposed design, wider engagement will take place,” the spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman said 30 of the 62 hexagonal seats that were in Emerson St were removed in 2018 “to reduce the physical and visual clutter of Emerson Street for pedestrians” and to give more spaces for businesses to place their seating.

“Importantly, it meant there was adequate space for mobility and visually impaired pedestrians to navigate Napier’s main retail street,” the spokesperson said.

“Only the seats with tiles were removed, while those with plantings were kept to provide some seasonal interest.”

Bailey said he didn’t understand the council’s reasoning as the hexagonal seats were replaced with concrete seating recently anyway, and the street was still cluttered with less visually appealing objects like wheelie bins and tables and seating from stores.

The hexagonal seats that were removed were relocated to Marine Parade to provide additional seating along the foreshore.