Editor
I would like to reply to James Westbury’s Spoonful of sugar Dated January 14 2015.
He tells us that he has been away on holiday in two lovely spots Napier and Taupo both great destinations, I hope he had a relaxing time.
But while he was away he might not have noticed the holiday makers that every year fill Waikanae fit to bursting
Down at the beach businesses thrive with cues for ice cream, a 45 minute wait at the beach takeaways on a busy day, Restaurants bustling and the bakery sold out.
I have experienced this first hand as my wife and I once owned both the beach Takeaways and the Waimea dairy.
The problem is not getting the people to Waikanae it is enticing them up to the businesses at the top a hard task given the beauty of the whole beach area and the failing state of the whole top area.
On his way back into Waikanae Mr Westbury might not have noticed that we were voted best small town in 2008 as the welcome to Waikanae sign is hidden behind flax and is so faded you can hardly read it the one south of the town is in better repair but is now behind a big 50km sign, in town in the mall where the water drips off of the roof there is moss growing on the cobbles which is not only unsightly it can get slippery and be dangerous, as Waikanae Community Board Members I believe these are the things that they should be dealing with keeping eyes open at a community level so these sorts of things can be brought to the attention of the next tier of council and be remedied lets deal with what we have now while also planning for what we will have in the future.
As a business owner at the top of town Mr Westbury should talk to the businesses around him and come up with stratergies to lure the many people who holiday here and all the locals up to the top, council may even help if asked, one suggestion I would have is maybe ask the Waikanae Market into the Mall every Saturday, villages did this successfully in the past, why Porirua does it every week now with great success as does Paraparaumu beach think out of the square .
Jeremy Seamark
Waikanae
