IT HAS probably been some time since the Wanganui District Council chambers were as full as they were on Thursday night.
Around 70 people, mostly business owners, crammed the council chamber for a meeting called by Councillor Helen Craig and Doreen Hardy, from Mainstreet Wanganui, to discuss how the city can improve its image.
As you are no doubt fully aware, our image took yet another beating recently from radio host Duncan Garner, who commented on the many empty shops, inferring Wanganui was a dying town. Not surprisingly, some Wanganui residents and representatives were outraged - after all, this is akin to telling a newborn's mother that her baby is ugly.
Of course, we are no different from many other towns in New Zealand suffering this predicament. After 30 years in Auckland and the past 14 months living in Sydney, there are parts of Auckland and Sydney that do not look so glamorous either.
The trouble is that perception is reality. In Garner's mind - and the minds of others - if they see empty shopfronts, their reality is that the place is dying. Subconsciously they wonder why anyone would ever want to live here.
To be honest, I had the same thought some years ago before returning to my old hometown - it is human nature and a bit of big city superciliousness.
As a proud group of people, we need to change that perception. Because of our economic isolation, we have to try even harder to present the best image of what is a very beautiful town full of 43,000 salt-of-the-earth people. We need to do this because we need to attract new people and new businesses.
Unfortunately, a number of business owners in Wanganui have let the town down and have allowed their buildings to become what can only be described as visual pollution.
To some extent, council has also let us down by not pre-empting this perception problem. Perhaps council and council staff need to apply pressure on empty-shop owners to ensure the front of empty shops is better presented.
For around $400 to $800, shopfronts can have frosting applied so we do not have to look into a gaping, rat-infested looking hole. Even a sheet of cloth or shade fabric would be a huge improvement to many empty shops.
So my challenge to empty-shop owners is to lift your game and do your bit to keep a positive image of our town. It is good for you and it is good for the rest of us in the end.
One suggestion at the meeting that did appeal to me was a central pedestrian mall in one of the main street blocks, similar to the vibrant Cuba Mall in Wellington. This would give the feeling that the town had a heart - a central soul, so to speak.
This is something that is in many towns and offers a place for people to congregate. The idea at least deserves a trial. Perhaps planters blocking off a part of the main street is an option, so we can see the effect it has, and to listen to feedback.
Steve Baron is a Wanganui-based political commentator, author and founder of Better Democracy NZ. He holds a degree in economics and an honours degree in political science.