I have walked the Mount main street from Pacific Ave to Salisbury Ave, both ways.

The street is lined each side with stately palm trees, numerous evergreen trees and a Norfolk pine each end and centre.

Colourful garden plantings at the roundabouts and kerbside boxes create an atmosphere of tranquil harmony. Great credit to the planners and developers from the past, who have given us a beautifully presented ‘green space', in its own right, the whole street.

Pedestrian seating has been more than adequately catered for by numerous fixed bench seats with backrests, positioned at regular intervals down the street. I've counted 158 seat spaces. Many of them beneath the shade of the trees.

In addition to these, there are 39 raised circular gardens, beautifully crafted in concrete and tiles.

One around each tree and several others with colourful flower displays.

Each of these garden walls can serve as seating – easily for six to 10 people, about 300.

How much seating is enough?

I know, that city centre ‘green spaces', are a modern and trendy concept, and for many places a great asset, but not at Phoenix. The town needs more carparks, not fewer.
Why, why, why, do these councillors persist with their narrow-minded and self-serving perceptions of what to impose on Mount main street? I wonder if any of them live here at the Mount. My guess
is none.

T Clist, Mount Maunganui.