Louverdis 'gets message' over car park

BY KAREN GOODGER

Consultation quickly turned to confrontation when Nelson City Council tried to share its plans for revamping the Montgomery Square car park with business people last night. Neither the mayor nor any councillor was there to catch the action.

The meeting was led by the council's technical services senior executive, Alec Louverdis, who asked the 60 people if they were happy with the urban design team giving a short presentation.

Former councillor Seddon Marshall seized the opportunity to object. "I believe we have come along here to tell you we don't want this to proceed. You are wasting your time trying to convert me," he said. The $1.2 million revamp was "morally, ethically and legally wrong".

The plans will see the establishment of a new public green space, known as a pocket park, and result in the loss of 24 car parks, which was the main concern for many at the meeting.

Mr Marshall said business people contributed land and sponsored loans to establish the car parks in the late 1960s.

Nelson lawyer John Fitchett said businesses also paid for the car parks through higher rates. "None of you people seem to know that."

Mapua-based landscape architect Robin Simpson, a member of the council's urban design team, told people the car park was "quite a utilitarian-looking place" with "rather unappealing but highly used" entrances and exits. "The car entries are very road looking."

Everyman Records owner Greg Shaw said: "It's a bloody car park. That's what it is. That's what it's designed to be."

When people were asked to be fair by giving the designers an adequate chance to speak, Mr Marshall warned them not to insult the audience's intelligence.

Mr Shaw supported the idea of making Nelson more pedestrian-friendly but said the council was "putting the cart before the horse" by doing this ahead of other things such as establishing a decent public transport system.

"You've got to get the friggin' pedestrians into the city."

Businesses had suffered a recession since the council consulted them about its Heart of Nelson strategy, he said. "During that time, the [Richmond] Mall has gone through a substantial amount of growth, with free car parking."

Mr Shaw said the council stood to lose $40,000 a year in revenue from losing 24 carparks and one of the strategy's high priorities was to provide more inner-city car parking.

Mid City Motel manager David Penrose was the only one who fully supported the plans. Too many people were focused on the number of car parks being lost rather than what they were as a percentage of overall city car parking, he said. "Personally, I have never seen every car park that's taken in every block that's there."

Others disputed this and questioned how much extra revenue their businesses would enjoy from the pedestrian-friendly initiatives.

Commercial real estate agent Neil Hodgson criticised the "lack of info", highlighting that the car park design team didn't know about plans that were before the council's building department for another high-generating business to move into the square.

Commercial property owner Gaire Thompson said the whole thing had been "very, very poorly handled".

"It should be stopped immediately," he said. He and others learned about last night's meeting from others in the room rather than from the council itself.

Despite previously stating the work was scheduled to begin in January, Mr Louverdis told last night's meeting that it wouldn't begin until March or April and nothing was "fait accompli". He said he welcomed the feedback.

"I really have got the message."

- © Fairfax NZ News