Petrol station plan sparks safety worries
Residents of a Nelson suburb are accusing the city council of hypocrisy over plans for a new petrol station.
Ta¯hunanui locals say that allowing the station, on a road where a cycleway is about to be introduced for safety and environmental reasons, will only increase hazards and pollution.
The Nelson City Council has granted resource consent for the NPD petrol station on the site of a former car yard on the corner of Parkers Rd and Muritai St.
A two-direction cycleway is due to be installed early next year on the other side of Muritai St, along which a primary school, a kindergarten and a community centre sit.
Forty parking spaces are being removed to make way for the cycleway, which is part of the $2.8 million Ta¯ hunanui Pathways Project.
Muritai St resident Bee Oliver said the planned petrol station ‘‘beggared belief’’.
‘‘[The council] are taking out 40 parking spaces to encourage people to use their bikes. And then they’re putting in a petrol station for all the people that won’t be using their bikes.
‘‘It just goes completely against the environmental message that they have been pushing to us about this cycleway.’’
Oliver said she feared that the station would create more traffic, and hazards for people walking or cycling past it.
She questioned why another petrol station was needed on Muritai St when there was already one about half a kilometre away, near the intersection with State Highway 6, Tahunanui Drive.
NPD said it believed there was ‘‘sufficient demand’’ for the station, which was scheduled for completion next year. Residents’ concerns were best addressed by the council, spokesperson Ian Young said.
Council officers working on the
‘‘It just goes completely against the environmental message that [the Nelson City Council] have been pushing to us about this cycleway.’’ Bee Oliver, Ta¯hunanui resident
cycleway project had been talking with the developers to ensure any impact was minimised, council spokesperson Paul Jennings said.
The proposed petrol station did not go through a notification process because of its location, he said.
‘‘The site is within the industrial zone, which has objectives and policies which generally support activities such as service stations.’’
Resident Emily Robertson said it was a ‘‘massive surprise’’ to find out about the planned station.
‘‘It’s already quite a busy area. The cars come round the corner really fast.’’
Robertson lives a couple of doors down from the site of the proposed station, on the opposite side of Muritai St. She said it was ‘‘a bit frustrating’’ that residents were not consulted about it in the way they had been about the cycleway.
‘‘I think it will make an impact on the street. There are quite a few little kids around, there are lots of families.
‘‘If there’s a whole lot of construction happening and changes, it would have been good to know about it.’’
Tahunanui School principal Barbara Bowen said she hoped the plan had been well thought out.
Bowen has previously lauded the cycleway, saying children are currently using the footpath to cycle to school, which is unsafe.
She said she was surprised when she heard rumours about the petrol station. ‘‘I would have thought that there would have been more suburban, or sympathetic, industrial building around the area, given that it’s a little seaside town.’’
She also had concerns about vehicles pulling in and out of the petrol station.
‘‘That’s quite a congested corner, with Pascoe St coming out on to Parkers Rd. I hope a lot of thought has been put into the planning, to ensure that everybody’s kept safe.’’