Letter to the Editor 1994 – Put new housing near Flaxmere

Put new housing near Flaxmere

Mr Editor. – I am hopeful most of your readership needs little reminding of the long-term importance and benefit resulting from this region’s horticultural and farming activities. They provide the wellbeing and economic activity essential to Hastings city and its residents. Imagine Hastings without Wattie.

Unfortunately, a minority of councilors seem to disregard this fundamental message, and wish now to overturn their own recent collective decision to preserve Frimley land from a housing development.

Housing has a rightful level of priority, as previous councils recognised and provided for. Cannot the council, or its agents, accept the challenge to proceed with developing that suitable land, most of which it bought specifically for city expansion, in the Stock Rd, Portsmouth Rd, York Rd, Irongate Rd area, instead of stealthily disposing of it as mainly “lifestyle” blocks, as it is doing at present?

What reason is given for this about face? Simply that development in proximity to Flaxmere is seen as undesirable and would be tainted by association. Furthermore, with the future motorway extension, Flaxmere will be more isolated than ever, thus facilitating further surreptitious withdrawal of responsibility by the council from this sorry dilemma of their own making.

This retreat from the planned area of development speaks for itself.

A visionary council would see the original planned area as an integral part, which could bring real benefits to improve the tarnished reputation of the suburb and perhaps the council also.

A further important point for Flaxmere residents and their representatives to ponder, is with an adjacent expansion, resident numbers could be decisive in the debate on the future of schooling in Flaxmere, as expanded roles could guarantee status, more so than any political promise, if wordy indignation from the mayor, who surprisingly, is leading the charge to Frimley, rather than, or perhaps at the expense of, Flaxmere.

Hastings   E. F. Hill