The Christchurch City Council made an excellent decision this week in deciding not to sell the site alongside the Court Theatre to Wilsons Car Park company.
My antipathy towards Wilson’s has no bounds. In the opinion of many local residents they looted this city mercilessly by leasing empty sites where the owners had collected their insurance from their destroyed buildings and this gave them an income while they decided the next plans for their site. We, the great unwashed, were charged through the nose for gravel and rock filled sites for years. The contribution to our city by this Singapore owned company was what? I see no reason for our city to sell a prime site to this company to continue extracting revenue from us.
I, and many friends, went to extraordinary lengths to avoid using any Wilsons parks. I think it became a local sport.
The argument by the Catholic Church about its Bishop’s pride site across the road means nothing to me. The church has even rented part of its old site (where they should have rebuilt the new Cathedral and saved at least $50m) to Wilsons. Why doesn’t that surprise me….
Rosemary writes: sorry Garry but the argument that there was ample planned parking in the area planned by the Catholic Church helped to win the day
Here’s the article, and well-done Councillors who voted for this decision.
The New Year resolution that I have found easiest to keep was a 2018 one that I would not spend any money at a Wilson’s carpark.