Julie Middleton: Stroll down the lane paved with good intentions

Vulcan Lane used to be a joyfully seedy place - in the late 1800s it was the favoured hang-out of prostitutes, pedlars, larrikins, bookmakers and cockfighters, and was often referred to as Vultures Lane.

These days it's slightly tatty around the edges (see the 135-year-old Occidental pub's out-of-whack, cracked facade) but to stretch to seedy, you probably have to be there very late on a Saturday night. And the "Ox" itself is long past the dodgy days when getting to the ladies' loo meant passing a doorless and rather-too-revealing gents'.

These days the lane, whose colonial facades are protected, harbours a cross-section of city life: a private detective at number one, the Raw Power juice bar at number 10, boutiques Zambesi and Workshop, and cafes Melba and The Hole in the Wall (which is just that).

During a chilly lunchtime - the sun rarely touches the narrow upper end of the lane - a fluoro-coated council worker pushes his wheeled rubbish bin uphill, passing a poncho-clad four-year-old gleefully swinging off her mother's hand.

A Chinese student wanders, his arms bravely bare. Oh, and there's Mayor Dick Hubbard, just back from a Cook Islands holiday, moving along slowly with eyes downcast.

It's the first time, he says, he has had a good look at the lane, which council officers controversially propose revamping with bluestone paving, new seating and feeders to attract tui.

The owners of Zambesi, Workshop and Feline have loudly rejected the plans. Their petition asks, in mildly hysterical tone, that the council "listen to us before it's too late!"

Mr Hubbard won't be drawn on what he's thinking, except that "I never rule out flexibility".

Quiz those who observe Vulcan Lane for hours daily - the managers of the ground-level shops - and it seems most would like some change without losing the lane's character. Get rid of the shallow drains and tidy up the uneven cobbled pavers that cause many people to trip.

"We see ladies fall on their faces all the time," says Greta Baldwin, the manager of boutique Madcat. "We've had to go out there and pick ladies up." And that's not good for business because embarrassment, she says, kills any desire to linger.

But they don't like the idea of dark paving. "It's drab and dirty-looking," says Aimee Reeve of cosmetics store Napoleon, and slippery when wet. Melba's Matt Vivian says he has already done a few inadvertent skids on newly laid bluestone paving on Karangahape Rd.

And tui feeders? The shopkeepers screw up their faces and ask what self-respecting tui would venture into the city centre? And, they add, eyeing the resident pigeons, do we really want more poop?