Progress in stages

Open the city to the river. Now that is a phrase which rolls off the tongue very easily. To do this involves a number of stages.

The first is to bring in the bulldozers to demolish the buildings on the main street, which have some historic and heritage connection with the city.

This opens the view to the river, obscured still by a wealth of mature vegetation, large trees some with protected status.

Some time back, the Times printed a front page picture of an artist impression of a view of the river from the balcony of the proposed new theatre looking at the river.

What the developers of this project have yet to acknowledge is the existence of a number of very large trees behind the hotel, which will have to be removed to get the desired view.

Is stage two of the development of the part site the similar destruction and removal of the trees and other foliage?

If so, is there to be a civic ceremony to officially start the process, and will the mayor wield an axe or chainsaw to strike the first blow?

The third and final stage is to bring in the concrete trucks to provide the materials necessary to stabilise the bare bank and prevent landslips, and to also provide some form of embellishment to the bare park surface, all at some considerable and as yet undisclosed sum of money to be provided by the ratepayers.

All this to get a view of the river, when the best view of all can be obtained by sitting on a park bench in Memorial Park, at absolutely no cost.

Graeme Henry, Hamilton