Blenheim’s Market Street revamp has sparked mixed reactions among locals, with some businesses seeing the disruption as a necessary step towards a more vibrant CBD.
Now in phase two of the development, Market Street north was closed to all vehicles between High Street and Alfred Street on August 10. While road closures have reduced footfall and caused temporary disruption, some retailers remain optimistic about what the revamp will bring.
Hamish Thomas, co-owner of Thomas’s Department Store at the north end of Market Street, says the works, which include new paving, updated lighting and refreshed planting, will improve the town centre’s aesthetic appeal and encourage people to re-engage with the area.
“If we don't have a vibrant CBD, it affects everyone. It affects your house prices, affects attracting people here for jobs, and people don't come to a town or a city if they think that the place is not an attractive place to live, so it's important. We've got to get in behind these sort of things.”
“It's a little bit of pain for long-term gain,” he continues.
For Alice Mills, who works part-time at Fabric Creations, the new paving promises a safer environment for elderly customers, many of whom have slipped and fallen on the existing tiles.
“The amount of people we were picking up off those tiles every week because they'd injured themselves…it was awful. ACC must have had a field day,” she says.
“People don’t like change… but to get anything done, you've got to have progress. It had to be done,” she says.
Mike Boyd, owner of All Good Brew, agrees the CBD is overdue for a renovation.
“I do think it's a good thing overall. The place did look dated. I hated the blue poles and everything. And the last time it was done was before 2000, so 26 years ago.”
Brent Ackroyd, owner of Bikefit, also agrees the town centre “needed a bit of a refresh”. He is complimentary of contractors’ efforts to allow him to keep bike racks outside his shop during the works, saying the disruption “will help in the long run”.
Some are, however, questioning whether aesthetic regeneration alone will be enough to make the town centre a destination.
Mike says: “My concern is what happens next, right? They spend the money, they get people to do it, but now what is the thing to entice people to use the space that they've invested money into?”
“I had a chat with the councillors, and they're looking at maybe doing some little night markets and events and things like that. There's going to be an opening, I think, when that's all finished, stuff like that, so I think all of that's obviously good stuff,” he continues.
Regan and Baylee, two friends who work at Farmers and a local salon respectively, also believe more needs to be done to bring the CBD back to life.
“If [people] weren't coming in before, and the only difference is that we have a nice new walkway, but there's nothing else being offered, then I don't think they'll come now. If that makes sense,” says Regan.
Alice agrees.
“It's going to look amazing. Don't get me wrong; it’s going to be great. But we do wonder how much it's going to bring people in.”
While the disruption has been difficult for many, there is a common hope that the changes will create a space people want to utilise. For many locals, however, aesthetic improvements are only a small part of creating a livelier town centre − what happens once the work is finished may be just as important.
