Bill Dalton

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.