Residents to be consulted in the future on developments that directly affect them

Mayoral candidate Aldo Miccio says the loss of carparks for Vanguard St businesses’ customers on Thursday last week was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

On Thursday and Friday last week over 1 dozen Vanguard St businesses took exception to council workers from digging up car parks on the road to plant trees.

“I totally agree with the philosophy behind the Heart of Nelson strategy, however once again the process has let the public and the strategy down,” he says. “In my view, the Vanguard St businesses should have been directly consulted about the removal of carparks outside their businesses. Customers are their livelihoods, and with limited car parks available in the street to begin with, the removal of the carparks on Friday has clearly been devastating.

“I have also heard of instances where carparks have been removed directly outside people’s houses without them being consulted,” he says. “These situations, coupled with the changes proposed to the Nelson Resource Management Plan, are giving the public the impression that the council is little by little taking their rights away from them.

“Surely the council is here to represent the people, and yet I feel we are not listening or talking with our residents about changes that directly affect them,” he says. “There need to be serious changes with how the new council consults.”

ENDS

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