A decade and a half later, council wisely abandoned the ring road and replaced it with one-way streets plus a pedestrian mall in the 100 East block.
This simply replaced one unsatisfactory system with another, so finally in 1999 council was forced to reinstate the two-way streets, and open up the East Mall to traffic.
In recent times there have been other proposals for reinvigorating the CBD, such as shifting the railway station into the centre of town, though this was abandoned when an astute local pointed out the intended passenger train was significantly longer than the space available, meaning passengers would be alighting straight into the water feature.
Another idea was to remove the water feature and replace it with a through road to connect the East and West sides of Heretaunga Street, effectively returning to the same layout as 40 years earlier.
Council street upgrades, while generally supported by retailers, have undoubtedly been very damaging to their businesses. It's doubtful any extra shoppers have been attracted to the CBD as a result of the about $2 million spent.
Without doubt, the most significant council inspired-changes have been the development of two new large retail zones, the K-Mart Plaza, and Nelson Park.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with providing for big box retailing because it is clear that is what many shoppers want. Actually, Hastings has been successful in attracting big names including K-Mart, Harvey Norman and Spotlight, but such a significant expansion of retailing was clearly going to impact on the fortunes of the original CBD.
Population growth in Hawke's Bay is not great, and incomes are increasing quite slowly, so there is no obvious source of new money to replace that being siphoned off by the new bulk retailers.
Obviously, online shopping is also putting pressures on traditional CBD retailing but, again, this should have been anticipated because Amazon and eBay have been around since 1995, and even TradeMe started business in 1999.
The new five-star Havelock North Hotel will also incorporate more retail space.
A near complete collapse of the CBD may have been prevented only by Farmers relocating to Heretaunga St, and the Wallace Development Company upgrades of the former Power Board building and Woolworths site.
The new Civic Assist staff have also helped re-establish a more congenial environment for shoppers after behavioural issues drove many elsewhere.
As most large retailers offer free parking, the CBD is disadvantaged by parking fees and fines.
The 60 minute limit on meters is simply not enough for many shoppers. Of course messing up parking is a Hastings Council speciality.
Many people will remember that the present mayor and deputy, acting on the advice of external experts, supported selling off council parking land in Havelock North, then tried to introduce meters because of the resulting shortage.
Of course amalgamation will be an unmitigated disaster for Hastings. If $10 million a year is to be saved, at least 100, and as many as 150, council jobs will have go. With the new super council being based in Napier many jobs may be lost from Hastings. Together with relocations, Hastings could lose perhaps 300 jobs, plus tens of millions of dollars in spending. Hasting retailers would be wise to have exit plans for their businesses in the event amalgamation goes ahead.
Hastings was once the retail capital of Hawke's Bay and, back in the 1960s, trainloads of people would arrive from Napier to do their Christmas shopping.
It's unlikely such days will ever return, so we need to make absolutely sure shoppers can be enticed back to the CBD before any commitment is made to spend ratepayers' money. Advisers are not accountable and they have not always served council well in the past.
- Simon Nixon is a Hastings District councillor.
