Bill Dalton

Last week I commented on this radio station and posted to my blog that developing a footpath policy is a difficult process. It is not only Napier that is grappling with this contentious issue – in fact most cities in the country are trying to work out a compromise that suits as many people as possible.

It has always been my belief that when a contentious matter arises, the best way to remedy the situation is to have an exchange of intelligent and informed dialogue take place. To that end the Napier City Council has written to businesses in the CBD on a regular basis and kept them informed.
 
Of great interest to me is the fact that not one single retailer has contacted me to discuss the matter of signs. Not one.

I have had anonymous mail arrive at my home – have been, along with the Mayor and my fellow councillors, abused by text messages in the local paper, all pretty juvenile stuff. 

And now someone who signs himself as Ben Hall has posted to my blog telling me, and I quote “you sir are a dork in the highest manner with no understanding for small businesses and common sense.”

Well I’ve got news for Mr Hall. I have been involved in the running of a small business in this city for almost 30 years – I wonder what experience he uses to form his views.

The fact is I am one of just 12 councillors in the fair city of Napier. I work in the CBD, my number is in the phone book, my cell phone number is on my answer machine and yet not one affected person has even bothered to come and see me or ring me to discuss the street signs.

Don’t you think that such an approach was more likely to produce results then vitriolic text messages to the paper.

And speaking of those text messages, I think it is absolutely appalling that the HB Today Newspaper prints that rubbish without requiring the writer to identify themselves. Writers of letters to the editor are required to sign their names – why not writers of text messages.

Oh and one more thing. Whilst it is proposed that the fees for signs will go up over the next couple of years, councils are required to review their fees annually so nothing is set in concrete.

Perhaps intelligent dialogue might encourage councillors to change their mind.  Who knows?

I was out of town at a funeral late last week but the word got to me “There is a revolt amongst Napier retailers because their signs and sandwich boards are being stolen by the Napier City Council.” What a load of garbage!

The Napier City Council is made of up councillors and staff, all of whom want to do what is right for Napier. The Napier City Council does not steal things.
 
The Council’s footpath policy is a difficult one and whatever the final outcome, not everyone will be pleased.

But let’s face facts. The footpaths are Council property and are there to enable pedestrians to move freely about the city. Without controls, the footpaths become blocked with sandwich boards, tables and chairs, racks of goods for sale, and can no longer serve their purpose. The problem becomes critical for those in mobility scooters, wheelchairs or twin pushchairs. Somehow we need to keep these pedestrian thoroughfares clear so they can be used.

So really there are two distinct problems which of course overlap. One is to provide a fair and equitable regime for the use of our footpaths and the other is to cut down on the clutter on the footpaths to provide a visually appealing city.

One of the very vocal protesters about our signs policy is a café in Dalton Street. I understand it is a very good café and the proprietors have clearly chosen premises off the main street – presumably because the rent is cheaper.
 
Then of course they put signs in Emerson Street and Dickens Street directing people to their premises. The Napier City Council went to a lot of trouble to prepare the crossing over Dalton Street in Dickens Street with neat black posts and galvanised chains. The café then tied an advertising blackboard to our chains. I had 3 complaints in one morning.
 
So it is difficult to please everybody and impossible to please everybody all the time.

But to refuse to pay a fee, notified well in advance, and then to accuse the Council of theft is anarchistic and emotional and does nothing to resolve the problem, nor does offensive anonymous mail to my home. I thought as a society we were more mature than that. We are a small community and should be able to discuss these matters in an intelligent manner.

Hopefully some wise heads will get around the table soon and resolve this matter before Napier starts to look like the clown prince of municipalities.

Since I have been on the Napier City Council, I have been quietly lobbying for an effective public transport link between Ahuriri and Napier.

In 1913, the then City Fathers recognised that Napier had in fact, two hearts.  The bustling Ahuriri with its coastal trade, merchants and fishermen and the CBD with its government and professional offices and also shops.  They put in an electric tramway linking the two hearts and it was an instant success. 

However by 1926, with the growth of motorised road vehicles such as the omnibus, the tramway was trading at a considerable loss.  I have no doubt that if the 1931 earthquake hadn’t put the trams out of their misery, they would have simply folded.

For many years Ahuriri was in the doldrums.  When I started work there in the 1960s, Ahuriri was considered an industrial backwater.  A public transport link was simply unnecessary.  But clearly that has now all changed.  Ahuriri is now becoming our main entertainment area and has a large number of visitor beds.  Visitors who stay in Ahuriri want to visit the Art Deco CBD and visitors who stay in the CBD want to visit the entertainment area of Ahuriri.

So we need to do something about it and I think that is generally accepted by all members of the Napier City Council.  The question is – “What form of public transport is the most appropriate and cost effective to link Ahuriri and the other side of the hill.

Some are talking trams and trains but in my view, the answer is petrol/diesel or electric wheeled vehicles running on the existing road.

They could be built in the Art Deco Style or a style sympathetic with Art Deco.  I envisage buses built to look old but with modern mechanicals, with open sides and curtains that could roll down in inclement weather.  They would have GPS reception and speakers and a commentary would be played as the bus passed points of interest.  The omnibus would leave the Napier I site, travel South on Marine Parade to the Aquarium, then North past the Sound Shell – Port- Perfume Point – the Iron Pot and then to the old Customs House.

Linking our two hearts is essential for Napier and its time we got it under way.

My wife Shirley and I have just had a wonderful week in New South Wales. Frankly we have been to Sydney so often over the years that looking at the Opera House doesn’t do it for us anymore so this trip was all about catching up with friends.

We had great mates arriving in Sydney from Maine USA to begin a tour of Australia so we arranged to spend time with them whilst they were in Sydney. It was just great to catch up with them as we hadn’t seen them since 2008 when we visited them in the States

We then travelled by train up to the Hawkesbury River to meet some Australian friends. We had originally met this couple in Queenstown during a South Island holiday. Since then they have been to stay with us and we have visited them several times in Australia. Again, it was a real thrill to catch up with them and there was certainly no shortage of conversation over a very long lunch.

After a relaxing day spent with Shirley’s brother and his wife and friends on the Hawkesbury we set off by rental car to Walcha on the New England Tablelands.

Back in 1973 I worked as a loader driver for an aerial spraying company. I became good friends with the pilot and his family but as so often happens, our lives moved in different directions and we hadn’t had any contact for 36 years.

Late in 2009 I decided I wanted to find them again and through the marvel of the internet, I was able to track them down. Sadly, I was able to do so because Carolyn, the pilot’s wife, had written a book to help people cope with the loss of a loved one – their son Ben who was born whilst we were working together had been killed in a topdressing plane at age 21. Ben was a great baby and my own eldest son is named after him.

So 37 years after we last saw each other we met up again and it was just great.

David is still mad keen on flying so in no time we were up in the air, checking out the whole district. And there was a bonus to come. He owns an ex NZ Air Force Harvard and both Shirley and I in turn were treated to flights with full on low level aerobatic manoeuvres’. Barrel rolls, Aileron Rolls, Hesitation Rolls, a Half Cuban 8 it was an amazing experience and it took two days to get the smiles off our faces.

So a lot of fun but now it’s back to the grind. And I notice that one or two of our sleeping local body politicians are coming out with their triennial populist hobby horses, so it’s going to be a fun year.