Showgrounds Hill

The only way to get a big State Highway 1 roundabout to divert traffic to Timaru’s port, a bypass south and the town centre on the north side of Timaru is Showgrounds Hill.

It is time for our council to look to the future and fix our traffic issue we have every day from 3pm-6pm going through town. SH1 is coming to a complete standstill and this will not go away without doing something about it.

Make our town centre attractive by introducing a car-free shopping street, like Cuba St in Wellington. Create free parking areas just on the edges of the town centre.

By making Timaru a destination we will prosper in the near future but you need to have a plan to do it. It seems we have plenty of money in the holding company.

Look at Auckland, Wellington and Sydney waterfronts. Do the same for Caroline Bay. Create a boulevard with cafes, shops and a saltwater pool. Timaru has the opportunity to create something similar. By making Timaru a destination we will attract investment and tourism, now is the time to do it.

The world is standing still at this moment but will start up soon and people want to get back travelling again. Time to get going and create a little paradise in South Canterbury. T M D Bosman Normanby

If TDHL were to file the proposal from Noddy in Auckland in the proper place – under R for rubbish then go back a week or so when there was an article in the Herald bemoaning a shortage of land in the urban area for housing. Twelve hectares of urban land would provide an awful lot of sections for housing.

If TDHL were to have the site surveyed for roads, residential sections etc. then call tenders to carry out the work ie forming roads – footpaths – laying in all the necessary services. Once that has been done – not all at once but progressively from one end to the other, then sections could be allocated to the various housing companies. I am not talking about sections in the 1000 sq.m bracket but in the 400- 450sq.m bracket and if these were allocated at six at a time to each of the housing companies and priced at say $150,000. Once a section is sold and building starts then $50,000 goes to TDHL – this would help to offset the initial outlay by TDHL.

Think about it then tell me I am a raving nutcase and I will disappear back under my rock.

Les Head

Timaru

The idea of a mall development on the old showgrounds site appeals to me.

Being older, I have difficulty getting about in the CBD so I have to be delivered to and collected from whatever shop I visit. Much better that I be delivered to a modern mall where I can, with the aid of my walking frame, visit a variety of shops, on the flat, out of the weather, meet friends, be entertained and just enjoy some retail therapy again.

The CBD from Ballantynes to George St should become the place for boutique and specialist shops accompanied by providers of hospitality and other services. Jenny Simmonds

Timaru