Bill Dalton

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.

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