ENOUGH IN-ACTION, TIME TO REMOVE THE "ÏN"

Brian from New Brighton

The accompanying photos show two run down malls, the first in New Brighton and second Wainuiomata. Both products of 1970's but only one is being transformed.
I have observed the post local body comments from the mayor and city power brokers, and continue to be frustrated as do most of New Brighton by the talk and clamour of spending more money on the central city, this call comes of course from the developers keen to make more money, not from the very few who actually live there.
Over a billion dollars spent so far on the various projects. The New Brighton Mall has had a few thousand spent on maintaining the run down status quo. It is surrounded by the residents, many elderly who have to trek to Shirley to get to a bank for instance, then wait in a long queue.
The New Brighton Residents Assn want the council to focus on what are the impediments to getting this 2015 plan (now nearly five years old) on the go. Oram Av for a start, this is absolute priority. God knows what DEVELOPMENT CHRISTCHURCH LTD are doing with this, NBRA has no idea and almost every resident and current business owner remain in the dark, and the Mall is supposed to be one of it’s special projects..
A comparable run down mall in Wainuiomata Wellington was probably nowhere as bad as our local mall for neglect, yet it has picked itself up and got a plan it is actually putting into place.
Countdown, the anchor of the mall (like New Brighton) with over 180 stores around New Zealand and a subsidiary of the massive Woolworths Australia enterprise, purchased the entire Mall (as it has done previously elsewhere) and from the initial decision in December 2018 to getting consent to build in August 2019, this pace of progress leaves our 2015 New Brighton plan as a continued embarrassment and example of in-action.
The $60 million Wainuiomata rebuild has already begun attracting new residents into the area and resources have been spent on new recreational activities like a 11 million dollar bike and walking track. All in space of two years.
Which begs the question, who is going to stand up and put the ACTION into New Brighton !? Lets hope our Coastal Community Board representatives and new City Councillor are finding an answer, and as a local 88 year old Bob Andrews stated, "what is the point of a plan if it is not progressed ?"