Stoke centre concerns doused by users

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Stoke Seniors have shot down concerns raised over the new Stoke Community Centre, saying access for elderly and a lack of car parking are “non-issues”.

Nelson City Council plans to build a $6.14 million Stoke Community Centre on Greenmeadows, with work starting this September.

Last Thursday, the council organised a gathering of community groups to speak with media. The groups included Stoke Rugby Club, Stoke Tennis Club, Nelson Cricket and Stoke Seniors.

Not surprisingly, all were delighted with the new plans for a centre, saying it is “exciting”, “great for Stoke” and “a game-changer”.

Recent criticisms from some council candidates and other residents have included that it is on the wrong side of Main Rd Stoke, that it will be too dangerous for elderly residents to cross the main road to get to the centre, that there isn’t enough car parking and that there has been a lack of consultation.

image001Nelson Weekly put all those concerns to Allen Johnson and John Haynes of the Stoke Seniors, which organises activities for its 400 members five days a week.

Allen’s reply to the concerns raised? “What utter bulls***”.

“Very, very few walk to Stoke Seniors,” he says. “We have three people-movers that pick people up and deliver them here. So that argument about our members walking there is just nonsense.

“I’d be surprised if anyone was trying to say that older folk are against this facility, because our members are all for it and they will be using it every week,” says Allen.

Other groups were just as damning of attempts to stop the centre being built.

“From our point of view, the consultation was excellent,” says Kim Biggs of the Stoke Rugby Club.

“There were plenty of meetings for people to attend. If people didn’t become part of the consultation it’s perhaps because they didn’t come to the meetings, rather than there being a lack of meetings.”

Mayor Rachel Reese says the criticisms should be taken with a “grain of salt”.

“I’ve heard that the main road is a barrier, but actually I don’t see it like that. I think part of getting Stoke to become a village and a hub, and to feel like a destination, to have activity on both sides of the road, so that when you come through Stoke you’re not just going past the backs of shops and not recognising what’s here.

“If I’m being really blunt with you, I think election candidates sometimes need something to talk about. With a campaign on I can draw the dots.”

Pauline Smith of the Stoke Tennis Club says some of the members have voiced concerns over the lack of car parking, but the vast majority of members support the new centre. Resource consent for the centre has been granted, with the tender process due to begin in June.