Porirua bus stop woes
Reduced seating at the bus stop in Lyttelton Ave opposite Countdown has left people scratching their heads.
David Dahya of Cannons Creek said his concern was for Porirua’s elderly residents and where they could now sit.
‘‘It makes no sense. In my view, the seating has been halved. Where are they going to sit now while they wait for a bus?’’ Dahya said.
Porirua City Council has said it would be spending $12 million over the next three years on remodelling public spaces around the CBD, but the removal of the bus stop seats was a Wellington Regional Council project.
Regional council spokeswoman Philippa Lagan said a small section of seating at the shelter was removed permanently about six weeks ago, because it was used as a ladder for taggers to put graffiti at that end of the shelter.
‘‘There is still a lot of seating at that shelter, but we apologise if removal of this portion has inconvenienced some people,’’ she said.
Dahya said he had no problem with the planned redevelopment, but did not understand why the seats were never reinstalled.
He said his mother had been complaining that there was now not enough seating, and that he had contacted the city council and received little in terms of a reply.
‘‘I wasn’t told about it, and probably a lot of others were not told about it either. Where do people sit now?
‘‘Fair enough there is other seating, but it would be good to know why some of it was removed, and what is planned for the area.’’
Dahya said he had seen elderly residents sit there regu- larly and eat their lunch, and that it was the place people used to sit when they needed shelter from the weather.
‘‘The council has to have told someone what it is planning to do. It needs to tell us so that changes can be made if the public speak up.
‘‘I know that it is only a bus stop, but it’s our city as well.’’
Dahya said the capacity was good before the seating was removed. ‘‘It is better to have too much seating rather than too little.’’
Dahya has been a resident of Porirua for about 30 years and his mother has lived here even longer.
‘‘ We just want to know what’s going on.’’