Editorial: Crims in Queen St

OPINION: It is hard to believe that anything other than "nimbyism" is behind Tasman District Council's sensitivity over the Corrections Department's planned probation centre on the edge of Richmond's Queen St shopping strip.

Not that a "not in my backyard" attitude is inherently wrong or objectionable. Any business owner would be alarmed at the thought of having an institution to manage convicted criminals setting up near-by. But for the TDC, the inconvenient fact is that it is the body that created the environment where an organisation which might be a poor fit for the neighbourhood, both socially and aesthetically, is able to move in as of right.

Mayor Richard Kempthorne prefers to focus his concerns on the building's "concrete" design and lack of landscaping. The uncharitable view would be that such a criticism can be widely applied around Richmond's commercial area. The same unkind perspective might wonder whether a different sort of tenant – say, a fast food chain – would face the same kind of scrutiny if it was to put up a similar building.

Yes, the council has been making noises about tidying up the town's street frontages and key highway gateways, and it now has a committee of urban design experts to give guidance on new developments. But there are years of neglect to catch up on. That it has deferred giving Queen St a long-awaited facelift until 2017, on current plans, does not suggest that it is about to roar into action.

If the problem is one of criminals reporting to the centre, the council should come out and say so. It is not an unreasonable concern and deserves a debate. If it is more a case of a council wanting to decree what is and isn't a worthy addition to Richmond's town centre, it should be using its available regulatory tools. And if the TDC wants to encourage investors to lift the standards of the things that get built there, it needs to start creating the right environment.

- © Fairfax NZ News