Cambridge CBD
The early summer heat of the sun is bringing the people out into the open in Cambridge. Whether locals or visitors, the pavement edges are crammed with angled cars, the cafes are booming and no doubt the retailers are getting their just rewards.
Peter Carr
Many old-time locals bemoan the gradual disappearance of the ‘village’ perception that was enjoyed when cars were less plentiful. The Waikato Expressway did not exist and Duke Street was State Highway One. And huge up to eight axle trucks did not roar through the pretty streets.
But change – or the inevitability of greater change – is upon us. Huge developing residential blocks are taking up prime land, roundabouts are being put in place to handle increasingly busy intersections, and the Waipā District Council is using the services of a group of residents to advise them on the ‘next steps’ between now and the year 2055. And I plead guilty to being part of that entirely volunteer group.
Twenty years ago, when we made the hugely successful and rewarding decision to move to Cambridge, we found ourselves in that aforementioned village with an overall population just on the high side of 12,000 souls. Now it is alleged to be well over 20,000 and with that target year of 2055 in mind could well balloon towards in excess of 30,000.
Sadly, this growth has brought with it an imbalance of services that greatly favours the north side of the Waikato River. Half the population is on the south side where there is a great lack of schooling, council services, retail, easy access to state highways and a feeling of being left behind.
Victoria ‘High Level’ Bridge – should it become a pedestrian bridge and a new vehicular one built?
That half the population must cross the river through amazingly narrow pinch-points just to shop, educate and commute elsewhere is a nonsense. That industry (and commerce) has not been permitted south of the river highlights the narrow thinking of those who have gone before us. That successive councils have done absolutely nothing to alleviate heavy trucks from using the south side of the river as a main trunk route from and to centres nowhere near Cambridge beggars belief.
But now we have a council and a council chief executive that does want to measure the possibilities of change resulting in improvement. Where equality and pleasant co-existence are to the fore. Where expansion – commercially and residentially – is acceptable provided that a balance ensues, water is available in abundance and schooling is recognised in a more general, geographic domicile.
The Cambridge Connections group has a large task ahead between September this year and the end of 2026. They do not take this task lightly and know that they will receive an abundance of ‘advice’ some of it rather mixed in its usability.
But we are all citizens of the world with differing desires, needs and wants. Therefore, no idea is too crazy but may, perhaps, be too unworkable. We shall see. Watch this space.
The News’ columnist Peter Carr catches up with Waipa councillor Mike Montgomerie at the Meet the Waipa CEO event held in the Town Hall. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
