LETTERS: I returned to my home town of Invercargill in 2011 and it is only recently that I have begun to really appreciate being back.
I would like to express the immense pride I have to be Southlander after attending the Vigil for Peace and Solidarity on Sunday.
On that day, I stood among the 1000 members of our community in Wachner Place to pay our respects for those who lost their lives in the Christchurch terror attacks.
Looking at the sombre faces, there was some good feelings to be found amongst our collective heartbreak. I felt gratitude, that so many of our community are caring and loving and were so eager to express their love for our Muslim community during this devastating time.
We are a region that, when it comes to it, wears our hearts on their sleeves. The number of people with tears on their faces on Sunday shows this.
The passionate advocacy we have to save the Southern Institute of Technology from the Government's vocational education proposals shows this.
Afterwards, I walked down Esk Street with my family. Looking at the buildings that have seen better days, I was quickly filled with confidence and pride for this region because of the ground-breaking projects that are planned for Invercargill's CBD.
I'm glad we have a council that is ambitious enough to form private-public partnership to ensure the CBD is revitalised, coinciding with the exciting development of a new hotel where work has already begun.
So, Southland. Thank you. You're a wonderful place to live and be part of the community.
Karl McDonald
Time for positive change
We have all seen the proposal for the Invercargill city centre development potentially one of the biggest retail developments of an established city centre in New Zealand - and this is all happening here in Southland thanks to HWCP and the Invercargill City Council.
The project is going to include 1000 covered car parks, retail shops, medical centre, outdoor courtyards and office space.
Firstly you have to commend the ICC for thinking outside the box and stepping into a joint venture with HWCP, but this can only be seen as a positive venture and a big positive step for our inner city.
If you look at the current state of the inner city, you can see this is well overdue for change.
We need to stop the people of Southland making the 2-3 hour trip to go to Queenstown or maybe Dunedin to do their shopping.
We need our city to be inviting, fresh, vibrant and modern and this project has all of that.
As a rate payer of the city, I know there is likely to be a cost to all of us for this development and I fully support this venture and proposal.
I want nothing more than to see this great city of ours be given a new lease of life for us to enjoy now and our kids and grandkids to enjoy later on.
With this development, along with K-Mart and the new ILT hotel development (The Langlands) Invercargill is going to have a point of difference and be inviting to all of us to come back into the town centre.
Part of the Southland Regional Development Strategy (SoRDS) was to attract 10,000 people to the region by 2025 and all these developments will go a long way towards attracting these people here.
This is the time for positive change, this is the time for Invercargill to stand up and be noticed and we look forward to seeing this development happen very soon.
Scott Whitaker
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