Letters: City needs new ideas

A reader comments on the "destruction" of the City Focus. PHOTO/FILE

I disagree with RLC's Strategy/Partnership Leader Jean- Paul Gaston's belief that the changes to the CBD over the last three years have brought new life & excitement to the CBD (September 14).

I and other citizens who shop on a regular basis in the CBD can see the many empty shops and failing businesses closing e.g. Gould Photography. A lot of these shops have been empty for years and it is not a good look for our city.

We can also see the empty Green Corridor, the lost carparks and the City Focus destruction. If you go to other cities around the area, e.g. Taupo, Whakatane etc, you rarely see empty shops, if you do, they are not empty for long. And their CBDs are busy, a hive of business and commercial activity and they are the heart of their city.

We need new ideas and new people to turn this around, the people responsible for this over the last three years have had a go, it's time for a change. Let's make the Rotorua CBD the envy of other New Zealand cities and make the numerous empty shops a thing of the past.

STEPHEN MILLSTEED
Rotorua

A few reminders about the RDC's expenditure are necessary at this time, with "Vote For Me" hoardings going up all over the city. We ratepayers and residents deserve some explanations.

RDC says it has a "wood first" policy yet chose a $26,000 tatty metal tree last Christmas.

The heart of our city has been ripped out with the removal of the City Focus with the welcome sails and lunchtime concerts.

Upgrade of Kuirau Park costing $300,000.

Who, surely not a Rotorua resident, decided to reroute the buses through the mall area, necessitating drivers to negotiate multiple roundabouts along Amohia St?

Cyclists do not stop to shop in the CBD, so why is there an underused cycleway through the main streets, at great expense and inconvenience to motorists?

Cyclists however, assume that all footpaths are there for their use, and I have narrowly escaped being knocked over several times.

What benefit did we gain from the so-called "Tourist Guru" Terry Stevens' week here?

Who decided that our library, a calm oasis, would be the best place for a child health centre?

Rotorua is still a depressed area. The empty shops and proliferation of $2 type stores are indicative of this, and even they and souvenir shops are closing.

These are a few reminders. Perhaps the RDC needs a budget advisor? If you have not got the money and are heavily in debt, defer unnecessary spending!

VALDA CLAASEN
Rotorua