Where will they park?
The main complaint from many people I speak to is the lack of parking in Nelson Bay CBD not lack of paying customers or empty shops (empty shops are not exclusive to Nelson Bay).
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The closure of the Donald Street East Carpark several years ago made this problem worse. After believing building heights had been finally resolved in 2012, the latest argument to build a multi-story tower on the site to entice people into the CBD is going back to the future. There is no supporting evidence or detail. Who are all these people eagerly waiting for the tower to be built so they can move to Nelson Bay CBD? Where will these people work and where will they park?
For the Donald Street East site, rather than enter into the mooted Public/Private arrangement, with historically low interest rates, the council should obtain a Local Authority Loan and either demolish and rebuild, or strengthen the existing structure, and extend over the adjacent vacant land. I, like many others, are tired of this Sword of Damocles swinging over our town once again.
John Green, Nelson Bay
Sand keeps on coming
I refer to Mr Lee’s Letter (Examiner, January 25, “Where is accountability”).
Reference the proposed 400,000 tons of Sand per year extraction from Salt Ash Mine. We have a unique resource with the Sand extraction at the Southern end of Stockton Beach. It is a renewable resource. For thousands of years wave wind and tide erosion along the coast of Victoria, has seen this sand slowly moving up the coast, eroding and replacing sand as it slowly moves up towards Fraser Island. Stockton Beach cuts in west, north of Newcastle, as the sand deposits and erodes it strikes the top end of Stockton Beach which is facing south, this acts as a natural catchment area, with the sand constantly being piled onto the end of the beach. So thank you Mother Nature, it keeps on coming. Where else would Mr Lee like to see the sand come from if not from our backyard?
We certainly cannot stop the concrete construction industry.
Les Muras, Lemon Tree Passage
Increase not helping
An interesting letter from Richard Casey (Examiner, January 18).
He wants to save the shops in the Nelson Bay CBD by having more permanent residents, more tourists and more high-rise buildings. Over the last five to 10 years there has been a dramatic increase in permanent residents, Landcom Corlette, for one example, and yet there has also been an increase in empty shops in the Bay. The reason is that the large supermarkets redevelop and increase in size as they see a growing population, they also increase their range of products. Rather than helping small shops, the increasing population is doing the opposite. There are two types of people on this Peninsular: one who like it as it is, and one who would like it to look more like the Gold Coast.
George Allen, Nelson Bay
High rise won’t help
I was left to wonder how long since locals have really visited Nelson Bay CBD (Richard Casey, Examiner, January 18).
I don’t see the empty shops talked about. Since the supermarket with underground parking arrived, things have changed. I shop there regularly and do the chemist, post office, newsagent and butcher visits while there – all in a village atmosphere. Sure we still have a way to go to bring more vibrancy and it would be nice to have more permanent residents living close by all year round. The Civic Pride Group is a good start. We already have alfresco dining well patronized all year round particularly breakfasts at weekends. I just can’t see how any proposed 10-storey buildings will add ambiance in the winter months.