What To Do With Upper Hutt's CBD
The CBD mainly in Main Street is a mess and a disgrace to a town that is called a city.
But not all is lost.
For years I have been saying make the CBD a mix of retail and apartmental. In other words compact the shopping and bring people right into the precinct by accommodating them. Make it living instead of lifeless.
It seems this might yet happen.
The owners of the mall had plans to increase the size of the mall considerably. Thank goodness they have not as now the current mall is virtually filled at long last and any increase in size will remove what little is left of the outside and the CBD would become disfunctional.
I have pitched for a Jackson Street (Petone)- like operation for Main Street with the council chipping in to help (rates holidays) and encourage in improvements and converting buildings to accommodate apartments and soliciting free paint for building exterior upgrade and "group" benefits for renovations.
Tracy Bull is quoted in The Leader as saying she loves the CBD the way it is. Whew. I wouldn't be supporting her opinion.
Councillor, Paul Lambert didn't see the CBD being required much above "ordinary" when I last spoke to him about it but I think that included in the mix should be boutique type of shops that along with the other major retail players will help to attract the public from the southern Wairarapa to come and shop in Upper Hutt instead of travelling further south to Lower Hutt or further north to Masterton.
Best way to use leftovers?
I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.
What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️