Kapiti retailers to introduce clothing optional nights to boost spending

Local retailers are encouraging less clothing and more spending to boost revenue post Covid-19, with a new 'clothing optional' bylaw coming into effect later this month.

The bylaw allows certain stores to host clothing optional days, with strict amendments around the types of retailers that can partake in the scheme. Business owners are already lauding the decision, with one describing it as a 'game changer.'

Clothing optional shopping isn't new for the area - late night nude Thursdays put the Kapiti Coast on the map in the mid-nineties.

The clothing optional nights lasted until 1997, when they were discontinued after an incident involving nine people at the Paraparaumu Woolworth's alcohol section led to three arrests.

Margaret Shelley of Peka Peka was an active participant in the clothing optional late night shopping scene, and told the Cryer she couldn't wait to for the nights to start back up.

"It was lovely, you didn't have to think about what you were going to wear, you could just grab your handbag and go."

Shelley said clothing optional nights became an integral part of her week, she often met friends or colleagues for a late dinner and a wander around the shops 'which were packed with all different types.'

Although the smalls came off, it was still important to make an effort with hair and put on make-up, Shelley said:

"We weren't animals."

The clothing optional nights became so popular they reached many facets of the community, with local retirement homes eventually taking part in the revelry.

Maggie Hinton worked at the Coastal Pastures Retirement Home in the mid-nineties and described the nights as 'a real treat' for residents.

"I participated in them myself - and something everyone seems to forget is that the store owners and employees ended up joining in too."

Hinton said she can't wait for the nights to start up again: "I suppose we'll have to do things a little bit differently now, but I hope the community gets behind it."

The Kapiti Cryer reached out to KCDC for comment.

Transmission Gully to become cycle lane

There have been discussions this week about turning Transmission Gully into a bike lane - a change that proponents say will speed up the completion date of the project by more than a year.

The $1 billion roading project is being constructed by a public-private partnership between NZTA and the Wellington Gateway Partnership.

It has been beset by delays despite having been scheduled to open in April 2020.

A leading engineer told the Kapiti Cryer that the controversial project could easily be salvaged by turning it into a two-lane cycle path into and out of the city.

Mark Edwards who has worked on Transmission Gully for the duration of the project, said everyone he has spoken to agrees that the change from motorway to cycle path would best serve the Wellington Region.

"The thing that's slowing everything down at the moment is the amount of traffic that will eventually be driving on the road. If we could reduce that, we'll be humming."

Changing the plans would not only speed up the completion date of the project, but would also leave the road 'basically empty' during afternoon and evening rush hour traffic - an 'ideal result' according to Stevens.

"It's what you want, really - low noise, less pollution, less wear and tear on the road itself."

Edwards said not only would the road last for thousands of years if no-one was driving on it, he also pointed to the creation of new jobs that the change would instigate.

"You could have people running alongside the cyclists with refreshments like they do in the Tour de France."

The Cryer reached out to the NZTA for comment.

Economist: Kapiti's Gateway should be built by local retirees

It's full-steam ahead for Kapiti's controversial new $4.5m tourist centre and a renowned local economist has come up with a unique plan to pay for it.

The Kapiti Gateway project has its fair share of dissenters, who argue that in a time of economic uncertainty and once-in-a-lifetime global pandemic our local leaders need to focus on basic needs.

Local economist and author Dr Karl Phillips disagrees, saying now is the right time to forge ahead with the project. He shared some ideas with the Kapiti Cryer about how he believes project costs could be reduced.

Dr Phillips said there are ways of doing things correctly - and suggests that instead of using expensive construction companies and designers the project could instead use the large stock of cheap labour in the area.

"More than 99% of people in Waikanae are retired - and many are itching to lend a hand to build this thing."

Dr Phillips said it's a 'well known game' played by those in their seventies to pretend they are physically incapable of hard labour.

"They say this hurts and that hurts, they pretend they are physically limited - the truth is they are plain lazy - you should see how quickly they move when I bring out my stick."

Dr Phillips, who wrote a number of best-selling books in the 1970s, including 'Fukushima and fault lines - why we shouldn't worry' and 'The benefits of thalidomide for expectant mothers,' said using cheap local retirees as labour would reduce costs by 70%.

"It's important to get this new Gateway up as soon as possible. Now is the time to promote the Kapiti story and it's been shown time and again that people will travel to see buildings that contain a story," Dr Karl Phillips told the Cryer on Friday.

"There is simply no other way to tell our story apart from a physical building, this is what we must do - you have the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids - we could really make this thing stand out if we do it correctly."

Dr Phillips said the process reminded him of other areas he had visited that were unsure of whether to proceed with a Gateway.

"Tooheeny, Cranston, Edlemind - these are all places that were nothing before building their Gateways. Look at them now."

Dr Phillips disagrees that Kapiti should invest in infrastructure, or proven economic drivers like the tech industry, citing South Korea - a country with few natural resources - which chose to invest in education and technology in the eighties.

"They chose the wrong path in my opinion. They have an island called Jeju that has wonderful hot springs, if they had promoted that in the eighties they'd be in a powerful economic situation now."

Dr Phillips said the Kapiti Coast was in an 'unfortunate' geographical location.

"If we were located near an important New Zealand city that had for example an overflow of diverse industries looking to expand it would be different. But this is the hand we were dealt so we need to make the most of it."