Nelson ‘hurtling’ towards lifeless future, students warn

Boring, dull, and cheerless are the words used by teenagers to describe Nelson, but they also have ideas on how to bring life back into the city.

“There are many problems in the Nelson CBD, all of which are attributing to Nelson becoming more and more of a lifeless place,” says Nelson College student Mattias Bower.

“The first of Nelson’s main problems is its lack of life and of a heart.”

Bower and his classmates presented to the city council and civic leaders last week on how to revitalise the city. It’s part of a project the students have been working on all year.

“Forgotten” Nelson East, “dull” Morrison Square, and “lifeless” Montgomery Square needed urgent attention, the Year 10 students say.

Food carts, music, public art, exercise equipment, historic walks, community stages, water features, play spaces, seating, and more greenery were touted as ways to increase the city’s vibrancy.

But the students say Nelson’s car-centric infrastructure was obstructive to residents and the untapped potential of public spaces.

By removing cars and focusing on pedestrians in places like Montgomery or Morrison squares, the students argued that a true heart could be developed for the city.

The ever-present concern of car parking had also been accounted for, with one group suggesting that a parking building could be built at the Trafalgar Centre. This could make up for lost parking, while removing cars from the central city.

“Action must happen as soon as possible, for there are two paths that Nelson is hurtling towards,” warned student Benjamin McDonald.

“The first is a Nelson full of vibrance and energy … the second is an empty, silent Nelson that repulses citizens instead of drawing them in. You decide.”

The challenge put forward by the class of Nelson College students has been taken up by Mayor Nick Smith, who listened to their “superbly presented” ideas on 28 November. “I expressed my commitment [to the students] that I want Nelson to be a city of which their generation chooses to stay and build their future here.”

The council has been “buried” under storm recovery work since August 2022 but Nick says it could now turn its attention to revitalising the city.

He urges the students to feed their ideas into the What If Whakatū/Nelson process, which provides a public forum for residents to share their aspirations for the city.

The information gathered at the What If space will feed into a planned summit in March on Nelson’s revitalisation.

“These are huge questions about how we’re going to reinvigorate our city,” Nick says.

“We do have to make an extra effort as a city to make sure we’re engaging with the younger generation.”

Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ali Boswijk echoed the mayor’s sentiments and says it was good to see not only the youth perspective, but also a future-facing vision.

“It’s really easy to be a cynical older person, we’re really good at that … but actually we need to not do that,” she says.

“They’re not being ridiculously over-ambitious. They’re being quite pragmatic in what they’re doing. It’s like anything: change has to start by making a start.”