Wrong priority? Get basics right first Courtenay Place parks

The Government seems reluctant to spend any money to search for the two New Zealanders lost at sea due to sinking of the cattle ship.

On the other hand, it is throwing millions of tax payermoney on the Pike river re-entry. Why is Pike River deemedmore important than people lost at sea?

To take car parks away from the CBD is ludicrous ( Golden Mile plans under fire, Sept 17). Who is going to take a bus into town to shop, when the suburban malls offer free parking and all the shops are under one roof!

The thought of closing Courtenay Place and Tory St is the silliest idea, so far. Moreover, when businesses haven’t been consulted, you have to wonder what morons are running the city.

Get the basics sorted first, like sewage,water pipes and rubbish removal, before looking at pie-inthe-sky projects, like this one.

Bob Grinling, Johnsonville

Courtenay Place businesses battling the removal of parking are pulling the wool over our eyes (‘ Ambush’: Rocky road for Golden Mile plans, Sept 17).

Iwould say over 80 per cent of the businesses there are based on food or drink. Parking is totally unnecessary for them.

Overseas, businesses thrive without relying on parking, but they have much better public transport.

The owner of Taco Queen, a Mexican street food business, is being disingenuous. Street food is generally bought by pedestrians who happen to be in the area.

It is amoot pointwhether 1 per cent of her custom originates directly from the suburbs, and those that do could easily carry their food in a closed cardboard box with handles, on a comfortable light rail vehicle linking Courtenay Place directly with Johnsonville, the Hutt and the Ka¯piti Coast, as well as the eastern suburbs.

It’s easy to appear on the front page, crying out that you need parking spaces for your business, but it has to be backed up by facts. Demetrius Christoforou, Mt Victoria