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Peninsula de-shopped?
Sel Jones, Manly (abridged)
I am writing with regard to the situation of the drop in shopping opportunities in the Manly Plaza. Back in the eighties when the population was a lot less than present, the shops including cafés in the Plaza were ticking over seeming well. My wife and I moved up to the coast permanently six years back and have noticed that with the growth in population, with the many new dwellings being constructed in the area including Gulf Harbour, the shopping opportunities are declining! Latest being The Warehouse, and Mitre 10 closing. It seems that the Peninsula is being “de-shopped” at the moment. Does anyone have any thoughts on the subject?
Disgusted by process
Toni Fuljames, Orewa
What a costly and nonsensical business the Orewa seawall has been. The next thing will be whether or not it even gets built this decade because the Council has no money. What happened to the Climate Change Emergency?
How does a seawall fit with the inevitable sea level rise and therefore more and more wall maintenance in due time? I am quite frankly disgusted that we have already thrown so much money and time at this. With all those experts on hand, there must have been a cheaper and easier way to deal with this erosion.
Open workshops at last
Simon Davis, Gulf Harbour
Open workshops are a sign that finally the local board is listening to the public who elected them. Even if we don’t attend those as ratepayers, having the right to do so means a lot. And we trust in our wonderful local paper, Hibiscus Matters, to tell us all the news that may come from those discussions. Well done local board, especially Leanne Willis – this has renewed my faith in democracy.
Community rallies to support Duval family
The Hibiscus Matters team would like to extend our sympathies to the Duval family, whose teenage son Louis suffered a fatal accident last week. His father, Stu, is a writer and artist who often featured in this paper, including a Local Folk story five years ago. In that story, Stu says that his then 10-year-old son Louis was the inspiration for his book The Golden Spark Plug of Awesomeness. Louis was a student at Whangaparaoa College. Principal James Thomas says the school remembers Louis as a fine young man who gave a lot and will be missed. “We are accepting and supportive as people come to terms with what has happened,” he says. The community rallied to support the Duvals and in just two days raised more than $27,000 on Givealittle towards Louis’ funeral expenses. The Givealittle page is open until June 23. Here is the link: givealittle.co.nz/cause/in-memory-of-louis-duval
Police seek name for new station cat
Following the death of Whangaparaoa Police’s popular station cat Snickers in January 2018, another cat has been adopted for this all important community role. The cat, believed to be around 2-3 years old, will be the fourth cat to be based at the station. They are loved and cared for there, and provide a calming influence when Police are looking after people under considerable stress. The latest cat was found and cared for by Maree Kate Osborne not long before lockdown, stuck in a drain near Coast Plaza, looking thin and with matted fur. He had no microchip and many attempts to find his owner failed.
At that stage Whangaparaoa Police watchhouse officer and chief cat carer, Charlotte Jones, took in the friendly moggy.
