Car-free Trafalgar St buzzing
Following a weekend of fine weather, businesses at the top of Trafalgar St are singing the praises of Nelson’s new summer square.
The idea of closing upper Trafalgar St to traffic has been bandied about for years but this year the council, with the support of businesses, agreed to trial the pedestrian zone.
The trial began on December 1 and runs until March 31. The council allowed $80,000 for the closure, which included a one-off investment to get things up and running, as well as the extension of liquor licences.
Some of the furnishings and equipment could be used for other projects when the trial has concluded.
Cod & Lobster’s Nick Widley said the first weekend couldn’t have gone better and he’d been ‘‘blown away’’ by people’s enthusiasm for the space.
‘‘It was just unbelievable, it was just so nice to see everybody kind of embrace the closure and the nice community feel up here,’’ he said.
He said it had been a ‘‘brilliant’’ start to the summer season in Nelson.
‘‘We had a live band on Friday night and a DJ on Saturday night and with Harry’s next door we’re going to be doing Friday and Saturday night music right throughout the whole summer, and we’re looking at Thursday nights and an acoustic Sunday afternoon because it was so good.’’
Widley said the CBD buzz hadn’t just been confined to the traffic-free section of Trafalgar, it had extended to businesses on Hardy St. ‘‘You couldn’t move on Friday night.’’ Harry’s owner Harry Morris said on the whole the weekend had been fantastic and even better than he’d anticipated.
He said they’d had a ‘‘good crowd’’ at the top of Trafalgar St on Friday and Saturday nights.
‘‘People seemed to be wondering through until quite late and the activity went on later than it has in the past,’’ he said.
Morris said the good weather had played a role and as long as that continued through summer, he expected continued success for the pedestrian square.
Over at Burger Culture, staff observed it had been a ‘‘lot busier’’ than previous weekends.
‘‘It just looks really nice,’’ said duty manager Harry Stevens.
‘‘It was always really pumping, especially with the sun out.’’
He said everyone seemed to have enjoyed it and it had been busy throughout the whole weekend, but Friday night and Sunday during the day had been the peak times.
Councillor Matt Lawrey, who campaigned for the pedestrian square, said it was ‘‘a beautiful thing’’ to see upper Trafalgar St transformed and it looked prettier than he’d anticipated.
‘‘The feedback I’ve had so far has been sensational and I really hope that everyone understands that it’s a place for everyone and there’s seating down there that is available for anyone to use.’’ first meeting of the summer last Tuesday. Taskforce convenor Dennis Bush-King said that Stage One water restrictions for users on the Waimea Plains will come into force from next Monday.
‘‘At last week’s first meeting the Dry Weather Task Force noted that it was likely restrictions would have to be put in place within a week.
‘‘As predicted, the Waimea River has dropped down to trigger levels at Wairoa Gorge so we are moving to Stage 1 rationing for urban users and most other water users on the Waimea Plains,’’ he said.
At this stage of rationing, watering restrictions are in place in Richmond, Mapua, Ruby Bay, Brightwater, Wakefield, and Hope, with only handheld watering allowed every second day. Consented water take levels will be cut by 20 per cent in the Upper Catchment, Reservoir, Waimea West, Delta, Golden Hills, and the Upper Confined Aquifer zones on the Waimea Plains.
Nelson City Council’s acting group manager of infrastructure Shane Davies said the council was monitoring water levels at the Roding and Matai supplies. ‘‘There are currently good water storage levels in the Matai dam, and we’ll keep people informed if there’s any cause for concern.’’