Footpath hits a snag
Work on widening the footpath on Nelson’s Trafalgar St has been put on hold, following concerns raised by retailers in the central business district.
A meeting arranged at short notice between Nelson City Council staff and a group of central business district retailers took place on Wednesday afternoon.
It was prompted by retailer concerns over a perceived lack of consultation over the temporary footpath project and its effect on shopping activity.
Council staff reiterated the purpose of the temporary changes would allow pedestrians to maintain physical distancing requirements safely, and give businesses confidence that their staff and customers could interact in a way that minimised risk. The planned work would see footpaths along Trafalgar St, between Halifax St and Hardy St extended in width to 6 metres each side using temporary markers, signage and line marking.
However, business owners on Trafalgar St who had arrived to process online orders at their stores on Wednesday, were alarmed to discover widening work had begun.
Taylor’s Shoes owner Craig Taylor said while he was aware that the work had been proposed, there had been no indication or approach as to when the work was to begin.
‘‘I would have thought that every one of us would have got a brochure under our door saying what was happening – we knew nothing until this morning apart from a social media post by [councillor] Matt Lawrey.’’
He said at a time when livelihoods were on a knife edge as they looked to recover postlockdown, many retailers believed the council needed to have engaged in further dialogue before rolling out the widening process.
‘‘There wouldn’t be a business in this entire CBD that isn’t struggling
like hell under the lockdown – we are suffering and can’t wait to get our doors open to try and catch up on lost ground – there are some that aren’t going to make it and others who will take a long time to come right.
‘‘When I see what’s going on here, I’m thinking ‘are these guys in tune with what’s happened to the businesses in this town?’ We can’t afford to lose car parks and I know there’s your argument that we’ve got to get used to not parking outside the shops – well people won’t, they rely so much on it.’’
At the end of the 20-minute meeting, council chief executive Pat Dougherty agreed to cease work along the main street.
‘‘We thought you knew and we had your support but that’s very clearly not the case,’’ he said.
‘‘We were doing this because we thought it was a help – we’ll stop the temporary work and do the consultation about whether we change the shape of the footpath for the next year or two while we get through Covid-19 – if the message is ‘no, don’t do that’ then I expect the council will decide not to do that.’’
Further consultation with retailers will take place in the coming weeks and discussions on any longer-term options would then take place.
Following the meeting, Beetee’s owner Glen Beattie was pleased with the outcome.
‘‘They listened and made a decision, just like that – that’s very good.’’
Despite the pause in works, a 30kmh central city speed limit from the weekend will still go ahead.
The speed limit decrease was authorised to accommodate temporary measures to allow for social distancing in the central city.
The speed limit change, made under an emergency response clause, can apply for a maximum of 12 months.
However in a statement, the Nelson City Council said it would ‘‘consider consulting the public later this year’’ on making the 30kmh limit permanent.
The slower streets will be:
■ Hardy St from Rutherford St Collingwood St
■ Bridge St from Rutherford St Collingwood St
■ Trafalgar St from Hardy St to Halifax St
■ Church St
■ Park St
■ Hope St
■ Morrison St
■ Halstead St
■ The three parking squares, Montgomery, Buxton and Wakatu.
‘‘When I see what’s going on here, I’m thinking ‘are these guys in tune with what’s happened to the businesses in this town?’’’
Craig Taylor
Taylor’s Shoes owner