Peter Carr
Arrividerci hustings – I thought we would never get to that point. With the formal swearing in of newly elected representatives we can lurch out into the actions of promissory vote-catching utterances and measure subsequent fact with possible fiction. But give them a chance – they have a population-given opportunity to ‘give it a go’ and improve our lovely district. And I wish them all well.
A cycling team outside the Velodrome in front of Riverside. Photo: Danielle Fuller
So, time to take a fresh look at what is – or is not – happening around us and where better to start than the delights of Cambridge? It’s the town we all enjoy and support by earning the social spending that keeps the wheels turning in giving time in a plethora of social work and involving ourselves, as participants or volunteers, in the myriad high-performance sport that surrounds our town.
Peter Carr
So, as is my usual twice weekly wont for the past 11 years, I was walking the upper surrounds of the velodrome out by St Peter’s School. Now, sitting almost hidden and somewhat shame-faced – is the new Cambridge Visitor Centre. This was, for many years, domiciled in a highly visible central position at the Town Hall but now, bereft of its council financial support, is an adjunct to a bicycle shop.
That said the lady ‘manning’ it is extremely helpful but notes that ‘locals’ no longer use the services of the office. I would dearly like it to return to the newly (and ongoing) refurbished 1907 Town Hall and retake its rightful place at the heart of our lovely town.
The town’s loveliness has been given the spring season flower bed upgrade by the excellent gardening/parks team of the Waipā District Council. These people are a collective gem, and we should stop and thank them when we have the opportunity.
But on a gentle perambulation along our ever-busy main street, suitably embellished with fresh colourful plants, I cast my eyes upwards above the verandas of the retail shops on the eastern side of Victoria Street. And all the good work of that lovely gardening team is torn to shreds by the shabby upper parts of the street-facing walls of the landlords’ income-earning establishments.
Town Hall, the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
For some reason the east side delights in dragging the town down and those same landlords – clearly not known for philanthropic ideals as regards the town- should take note of the excellent refurbishment (as in painting) of the corner building at the entrance to Alpha Street opposite the well-retained ‘Nash’. Congratulations to the owner of that elderly structure and it is high time that others followed your lead.
A combined effort – we are essentially talking about water-blasting and fresh paint – would not be an enormous task on about seven architecturally-cluttered upper-building faces would visually bring that side of our well-visited retail area back to life. Civic pride is not just in the eye of the beholder – it takes the beholden to play their part to match the continuance of a well-supported area. As Abraham Lincoln once stated, ‘a dollar spent stays and recirculates locally up to six times before that dollar springs away elsewhere’. The challenge is yours, but the benefits – and public plaudits where earned – will be greatly appreciated. This is not a council matter – they have bigger fish to fry. The ball is firmly in your court.
