Burke comments ill-founded

In response to the Canopies story featuring John Burke (December 16), I wish to invite him to the south end of High Street in Lower Hutt. I assume he has not been shopping there in a while.

I work alongside many of the business and property owners in the CBD and all are very passionate about their business and the street and its revitalisation. It hurts those very businesses when negative and untrue statements are made.

Successful town centres offer a quality mix of businesses, which this area does.

The south end of High Street has a great mix of businesses, services and a variety of hospitality businesses. Jina’s shopping complex with Mad Butcher, Jina’s World of Fresh Produce, Delectable Bakery and Wellington Sea Market, along with a liquor outlet and pharmacy create a very busy area of trading on a daily basis.

There’s great dining and entertainment in the south end with Amazing Five, Foggy Dew and Chappelli’s to name a few.

In recent times a retailer has relocated to that area based on his research of the number of potential customers consistently coming and going in the south end and has done tenfold in business.

John Burke is welcome to speculate on what he thinks will work in Porirua’s shopping centre, but he should stick to the facts, and contact me to come visit Lower Hutt for some ideas. periods of potential hazards.

To minimise disruption, the Canopies may need to be removed in small manageable sections and replaced in the same operation, using the already constructed scaffolding/equipment to install the replacement Canopy.

The Canopies were put up for good reasons all those years ago. We still have wind and rain today and it is hard to play table tennis in the rain.